^^y^H  OF  PR/^c^ 


S35  19i5 


Sample,  Robert  F.  1829-iqnR 
Beacon-lights  of  the 
reformation 


BEACON-LIGHT^- 

OCT  10  1032 

THE   REFORMATION; 


ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 


BY  THE 

Rev.  ROBERT  F.  SAMPLE.  D.D 


WITH  INTRODUCTION 

BY  THE 

Rev.  JOHN    HALL.   D.D.,   LL.D. 


8EC0NP  EDITION. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 

AND  SABBATH-SCHOOL  WORK, 

1915 


COPYRIGHT,   1889,   BY 

THE  TRUSTEES  OF  THE 

VKESBYTEHIAN   BOARD   OF   PUBLICATIOI? 
AND  SABBATH-SCHOOL   WORK. 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED. 


\rESTcoTT  &  Thomson, 
Stfreolypers  and  Electrotypers,  Philada, 


INTRv     UCTION. 

By  JOHN  HALL,  D.  D.,  LL.D. 


The  best  force  in  this  world  is  the  truth  of  God's 
inspired  word.  If  we  are  to  be  made  wise  and  liappy, 
if  vice  is  to  be  put  down  and  purity  of  mind  and  of 
life  to  be  set  up,  divine  truth  is  the  instrument  to  be 
employed.  It  is  the  healing  medicine  for  diseased 
humanity. 

The  students  of  pharmacy  attach  much  importance  to 
the  purity  of  the  drugs  given  to  the  sick ;  and  with  good 
reason,  for  it  is  easy  to  see  how  another  element,  un- 
noticed by  the  ordinary  patient,  may  destroy  the  healing 
properties  of  the  remedy  prescribed.  And  so  the  mix- 
ture of  error  unnoticed  by  the  average  man,  or  possibly 
deemed  harmless  if  not  even  agreeable,  may  mar  the 
efficacy  of  the  revealed  truth,  and  so  far  hinder  the 
work  the  truth  was  meant  to  accomplish. 

The  Christian  religion  was  professed,  honored  by 
the  arts  in  music,  painting,  sculpture  and  architecture, 
throughout  Euroj^e    in    the  fifteenth    century.     It    was 


ii  INTRODUCTION. 

incorporated  with  the  life  of  the  people,  domestic,  social, 
national.  It  was  enforced  by  the  most  stringent  laws. 
To  say  that  the  Church  was  joined  to  the  State  and  the 
State  reverent  to  the  Church  is  hardly  to  put  the  thing 
fully.  The  Church,  with  the  Christian  religion,  with 
offices,  officers,  institutions,  and  pains  and  penalties  en- 
forced in  this  world  and  threatened  as  to  the  next,  ruled 
the  European  nations. 

But  a  number  of  men  became  dissatisfied  with  the 
condition  of  things.  They  were  of  different  times, 
lands  and  languages,  but  they  had  one  burning  wish. 
They  prayed,  labored  and  in  some  instances  suffered  for 
what  we  have,  for  three  centuries,  called  "  the  Reforma- 
tion." It  came  about  at  length  over  a  part  of  Europe, 
and  we  have  come  to  describe  them — and  even  to  bless 
God  for  them — as  Reformers. 

Were  the  Reformers  in  the  wrong  ?  Did  they  make 
a  grave  mistake?  Should  they  have  left  things  as  they 
were  ?  Have  the  more  enlightened  portions  of  the  race, 
the  people,  that,  somehow  or  other,  have  been  making 
progress — setting  up,  for  example,  new  free  Protestant 
nations  in  these  passing  centuries — been  on  wrong  lines  ? 
Was  the  condition  of  things  against  which  they  pro- 
claimed war,  including  the  pope,"  the  priests,  the  tradi- 
tions, the  mass,  the  confessional,  the  penances,  the 
prayers  to  angels  and  others  of  God's  creatures, — was 
this  a  condition  which  they  should  have  accepted  ?     In 


INTRODUCTION.  m 

other  words,  was  their  work  for  God's  glory  and  for 
man's  good,  or  was  it  a  gigantic  mistake? 

Outside  the  Church  of  Rome  there  are  not  many  who 
deplore  the  Reformation.  Well,  what  was  its  essence? 
The  putting  of  divine  truth  where  it  was  meant  to  act, 
and  the  parting  from  it  as  far  as  possible  of  the  cor- 
rupting elements  that  had  impaired  its  efficacy.  Should 
we  undo  their  work  ?  Ought  we  to  go  back  again  to  the 
mixtures  which  they  cast  away?  These  questions  are 
practical  at  this  moment  in  the  United  States,  and  hence 
the  need  and  the  value  of  such  works  as  that  to  which 
these  pages  are  meant  to  be — as  far  as  needed — an  intro- 
duction. 

Seven  millions  of  fellow-citizens  are  not  imposing  to 
the  imagination  in  a  nation  like  ours.  But  one  element 
of  strength  in  the  life  of  the  United  States,  as  in  that 
of  Great  Britain,  is  that  if  one  great  section  of  the  peo- 
ple is  in  power  it  is  constantly  watched  by  another  great 
section.  So  a  "  balance  of  power  "  is  maintained.  But 
even  a  fraction  of  the  nation,  if  compact  and  under  con- 
trol, can  affect  this  balance.  The  government  may  be  in 
peril  if  this  solid  element  is  with  the  opposition.  The 
opposition  cannot  hope  for  power  if  it  cannot  conciliate 
and  hold  this  part  of  the  community.  So  a  section 
of  people,  with  this  accidental  gain,  may  be  courted  by 
those  who  deem  their  party's  ascendency  the  hope  of  the 
nation  from  both  sides.     Politicians  without  intelligence 


i«r  INTRODUCTION. 

or  principle  will  buy  their  support,  and  even  men  who 
could  not  be  so  described  persuade  themselves  that,  all 
things  being  fair  in  war,  policy  on  this  line  is  justi- 
fiable. 

It  is  all  the  easier  to  do  this  in  the  United  States  be- 
cause the  nation  set  out  on  the  line  of  its  national  life 
with  the  noble  and  ennobling  conviction  that  no  man 
should  suffer  in  the  State  for  his  religious  convictions. 
To  glide  over  into  the  view  that  religious  beliefs  are  all 
alike,  that  the  one  thing  is  to  be  sincere  in  them,  is  an 
easy  process.  That  the  Mormons  or  the  Chinese  are 
sincere  in  their  religious  beliefs  is  a  fact  which  ingenuity 
can  explain,  locate  or  classify  elsewhere.  How  the  sin- 
cere beliefs  may  affect  education  and  other  great  interests 
is  a  question  the  answer  to  which  it  is  easy  to  postpone. 
It  is  pleasant  to  be  "  liberal,''  to  discard  bigotry  and  nar- 
rowness and  old-fashioned  prejudices.  And  so  it  has 
come  about  that  in  the  common  and  political  life  of 
these  United  States  the  system  which  the  Reformers 
warred  against  with  a  success  which  has  blessed  the 
nations — a  system  which,  by  its  very  nature,  is  illiberal, 
narrow,  despotic  and  old-fashioned — is  regarded  with  a 
sort  of  patronizing  kindness.  Men  can  point  to  indi- 
viduals that  are  all  that  they  could  wish,  though  de- 
vout Roman  Catholics;  therefore,  they  argue,  to  con- 
demn the  system  is  narrow,  and  so-forth.  Well,  there 
were  admirable  men  and  women  in  '^  the  Church  "  in  the 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

Reformers'  days,  yet  it  was  renounced,  just  as  there  were 
excellent  persons  in  the  British  Isles  last  century,  yet 
American  Independence  was  fought  for  and  secured. 

Another  element  unfavorable  to  just  thinking  on  this 
practical  matter  is  that  the  study  of  history  of  the  times 
before  the  age  of  Washington  has  interested  only  a  por- 
tion of  our  people.  The  condition  of  Europe  for  cen- 
turies when  this  system,  having  set  the  truth  aside  or 
buried  it  under  the  traditions  and  inventions  of  men, 
made  the  '^  Dark  Ages,'^  they  do  not  understand.  Nor 
does  a  run  to  Europe  with  a  glance  at  cathedrals  and 
the  romantic  side  of  Old- World  life  disenchant  such 
minds.  They  do  not  take  in  the  situation  nor  realize 
the  influence  for  evil  which  can  be  perpetuated  in  our 
free  country  by  the  well-directed  force  of  a  great  cor- 
poration under  the  sanction  of  Religion's  sacred  name — 
a  corporation  which  claims,  wherever  it  can  safely  speak 
out,  wherever  its  officers  have  no  motive  for  flattering 
and  misleading  Protestants,  that  it  is  unchanged  and 
unchangeable.  ^ 

"But  is  there  not  much  truth  in  the  Romish  sys- 
tem ?"  Undoubtedly.  Now  and  then  a  skilled  villain 
is  found  by  the  police  manufacturing  dollars  largely  of 
copper  and  tin.  There  is  some  silver  over  the  tin,  or 
the  counterfeit  coin  would  not  pass.  And  so  you  can 
find  in  the  authoritative  teachings  of  Rome  many  great 
truths;  but  over  them   are  errors  congenial  to  fallen 


vi  INTB  on  UOTION. 

human  nature  that  warp  the  truth  and  make  it  ineffect- 
ual. God  is  woi-shiped  and  prayed  to,  but  how  many 
others  are  similarly  treated  !  Christ's  work  is  magni- 
fied, but  how  men  must  "go  about  to  establish  their 
own  righteousness  "  to  get  the  benefit  of  it !  The  com- 
mandments are  rehearsed,  but  how  often  the  image  is 
bowed  down  to,  notwithstanding !  Is  this  loyalty  to 
God  ?  "  Moses  is  gone,"  said  the  Hebrews,  "  and  God 
we  cannot  see.  Give  us  something  we  can  see  and  wor- 
ship.'' And  when  the  golden  copy  of  the  Egyptian 
bull,  with  which  they  had  been  familiar,  was  made,  and 
when  Aaron  made  proclamation,  "  To-morrow  is  a  feast 
to  Jehovah,''  he  did  not  renounce  Jehovah.  The  calf 
was  only  an  "  aid  to  devotion "  to  the  poor  people  ! 
But  the  righteous  God  treated  them  as  idolaters.  Hear 
one  of  our  best  Bible  scholars  on  it :  "  So  Jehovah  judges 
concerning  the  image-worship  of  the  people :  that  they 
intend  to  worship  him  in  their  service  he  does  not 
acknowledge.  Hence  we  translate  here  too,  '  These  are 
thy  gods ;'  in  the  pretended  image  of  God  he  sees  the 
germ  of  idolatry,  a  deviation  from  the  way  of  revelation 
which  he  had  commanded."  (See  Schaff-Lange's  com- 
mentary on  Ex.  32  :  6-8.)  It  is  because  errors  and 
germs  of  errors  make  up  what  is  distinctive  of  Roman- 
ism, and  because  these  set  aside  and  choke  the  truth,  that 
we  want  our  people  to  understand  the  system. 

Then  what  should  be  done  ?     Intelligent  people  who 


INTEOD  UCTION.  Vil 

love  their  race  and  their  country  shuukl  read  and  learn 
on  this  matter.  Ministers  in  preaching  the  word  should 
explain  the  warnings  and  prophetic  cautions,  in  their 
places,  as  they  do  the  promises.  Our  young  people 
should  be  so  instructed  as  to  be  able  to  discriminate 
between  Bible  truths  and  Bible  ways,  and  romance, 
sentiment,  casuistry  or  positive  error. 

"  Well,  but  it  will  be  offensive  to  fellow-citizens  to 
set  forth  these  things.'^  So  it  was  to  the  Hebrews  when 
Christ  denounced  Pharisaic  formalism  and  human  inven- 
tions that  made  void  the  word  of  God.  So  it  was  when 
the  apostles  set  forth  the  evils  and  sins  of  idolatry. 
Did  they  hold  their  peace  therefore  ?  ''  Ah  !  yes ;  but 
it  was  one  thing  for  Christ  the  Son  of  God  to  utter 
denunciation;  it  is  different  with  you.'^  Yes,  if  we 
were  originating  the  hard  thoughts  and  strong  words. 
But  we  are  not.  They  are  not  ours ;  they  are  his.  Are 
we  to  hold  our  peace  about  the  eternal  damnation  that 
unrepented  sin  brings  because  some  men  will  not  like  it? 
They  who  are  making  popular  favor  their  chief  end  may 
do  so,  but  for  those  who  have,  through  a  free  Bible,  a 
free  Church  in  a  free  State,  and  are  pledged  to  re-echo 
to  men  the  message  of  the  holy  and  jealous  God,  there 
is  no  other  course  than  to  ^'  put  the  brethren  in  remem- 
brance of  these  things."  We  are  to  speak  ^'  in  love,'* 
but  it  is  "the  truth"  we  are  to  speak. 

This  is  done  in  the  following  pages,  and  it  is  a  pleas- 


viii  •      INTR  OD  UCTION. 

lire  to  commend  them  to  readers,  who  the  more  they 
kuow  the  truth  of  God  will  the  better  appreciate  the 
grace  that  enlightened  them,  will  the  more  fully  con- 
secrate themselves  to  duty  as  patriots  and  as  Christians, 
and,  instead  of  being  the  slaves  of  a  partisan  and  self- 
ish bigotry,  will  be  the  more  ready  to  understand,  to 
allow  for  disadvantages,  and  to  make  positive  j^atient 
eifort  for  the  enlightenment  of  Roman  Catholic  fellow- 
citizens. 

New  York,  October,  1889. 


TO  THE 

WESTMINSTER   CHUECH 

IN    THE    CITY   BY   THE   FALLS    OF    ST.   ANTHONY, 

MY  PASTORAL  CHARGE  FOR  NINETEEN  YEARS, 

AND  TO  THE 

WESTMINSTER   CHURCH 

IN  THE  CITY  BY  THE  SEA, 
ALIKE  FAITHFUL  AND  DEARLY  BELOVED, 

THIS  BOOK 

IS 

AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 

Nkw  York,  N.  Y. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  treatment  of  Romanism  there  is  a  tendency 
to  extremes.  Some  persons  are  occupied  with  its  evil 
features  only,  others  exclusively  with  the  good.  Some 
apply  to  it  epithets  that  are  unduly  harsh  and  untrue, 
others  indulge  in  flatteries  that  mislead  and  do  incal- 
culable harm.  Extremes  are  both  easy  and  wrong. 
To  know  Romanism  as  it  has  been,  we  must  study  its 
history.  To  know  it  as  it  is,  we  need  only  to  look 
around.  The  Romanism  of  to-day,  as  it  exists  in 
Protestant  countries,  is  modified  by  its  environment. 
Whilst  its  principles  remain  unchanged,  it  adapts 
itself,  in  a  measure  and  outwardly,  to  the  prevailing 
sentiments  and  customs  of  the  communities  it  hopes 
ultimately  to  control.  To  ascertain  its  real  spirit  and 
intent  we  must  inquire  in  the  countries  it  dominates, 
such  as  Spain,  Portugal,  Brazil  and  Mexico.  Here 
you  will  find  an  exemplification  of  the  divinely-enun- 
ciated principle,  "A  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  corrupt 
fruit." 

It  is  not  so   much   with   Roman  Catholics   that  we 


4  PREFACE. 

shall  have  to  do  in  the  Darratives  that  will  follow  a& 
with  the  Romish  system  and  religion.  Many  Roman- 
ists are  kind  neighbors,  good  citizens,  devout  Christians. 
They  are  worthy  of  our  confidence  and  most  affectionate 
regard.  But  we  are  profoundly  convinced,  after  long 
investigation,  that  the  papacy  is  anti-Christian  and  the 
Romish  religion  sadly  corrupt.  The  assumption  that 
the  pope  of  Rome  is  the  vicar  of  Christ,  the  visible 
head  of  the  Church  on  earth,  invested  vvith  authority 
to  govern  Christendom  and  rule  the  world,  infallible 
in  his  teachings  and  entitled  to  universal  reverence, 
is  an  insult  to  God  and  a  malediction  to  all  who  ac- 
cept it. 

Romanism  is  not  a  thing  of  the  past  with  which  we 
have  no  immediate  concern.  It  is  a  living  issue,  and 
a  most  serious  one.  Its  history  interprets  its  present 
life  and  reveals  its  future ;  it  both  instructs  and  warns. 
We  shall  be  occupied  for  a  little  with  the  salient  facts 
of  the  great  Reformation,  especially  as  associated  with 
its  representative  men.  As  we  advance,  the  errors  of 
the  Romish  Church  w^ill  pass  in  review  before  us ;  her 
degradation  of  all  that  is  true  and  good  will  appear, 
and  her  temper  and  purpose,  as  opposed  to  the  prerog- 
atives of  God  and  to  both  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
interests  of  men,  will  declare  themselves  as  changeless 
as  her  postulates  are  profane. 

There   exists   a   necessitv    for   constant   watchfulness 


PREFACE.  5 

against  the  inroads  of  Romanism,  and  unremitted  efforts 
in  behalf  of  true  religion.  The  lines  of  Protestantism 
must  be  pushed  continually  outward,  all  great  centres 
of  population  and  influence  evangelized  and  the  gospel 
preached  to  every  creature.  Only  thus,  working  in 
dependence  upon  God,  prompted  by  love  to  Christ  and 
souls,  shall  we  secure  the  supremacy  of  Bible  truth  and 
bring  the  nations  to  our  Lord,  the  true  Head  of  the 
Church,  the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  men. 
Then  shall  the  mystery  of  iniquity  be  destroyed,  and 
the  glad  acclaim  of  heaven  shall  answer  the  hosannas 
of  earth.  May  God  be  pleased  to  use,  in  some  meas- 
ure, this  effort  of  one  of  his  servants  in  hastening  a 
consummation  which  piety  devoutly  desires, — and  to  him 
shall  all  the  praise  be  ascribed  ! 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB 

THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM 9 

JOHN  WYCLIF 29 

SAVONAROLA 61 

JOHN  HUSS :   EARLIER  LIFE  AND  WORK  .....  97 

JOHN  HUSS  AND  THE  COUNCIL  OF  CONSTANCE  .  119 

MARTIN   LUTHER 141 

LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  THE  DIET  OF  WORMS  .  167 

LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS 189 

ZWINGLE:  THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERD 215 

ULRICH   ZWINGLE:   LATER   MINISTRY 233 

CALVIN  IN  FRANCE 255 

CALVIN  IN  GENEVA 277 

CRANMER:  THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION    ....  307 

CRANMER :  PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM  .    .    .  335 

JOHN  KNOX,  THE  REFORMER  OF  SCOTLAND    .   .  361 

JOHN  KNOX :   LATER  WORK  IN  SCOTLAND  ....  381 

ROMANISM :  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS 413 

2  r 


THE  RISE  OF  ROi^ANIS^, 


**  Now  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  coming  oj  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  our  gathering  together  unto  him,  that  ye 
be  not  soon  shaken  in  mind,  or  be  troubled,  neither  by  spirit, 
nor  by  word,  nor  by  letter  as  from  us,  as  that  the  day  of  Christ 
is  at  hand.  Let  no  ma7i  deceive  you  by  any  means ;  for  that 
day  shall  not  come,  except  there  come  a  falling  away  first,  and 
that  ma?i  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  so7i  of  perdition. '' 

2  Thess.  2  : 1-3. 

"  The  Supreine  fudge,  by  whom  all  controversies  of  religion 
are  to  be  deter7nined,  and  all  decrees  of  councils,  opinions  of 
ancient  writers,  doctrines  of  me?i,  and  private  spirits,  are  to 
be  examined,  and  in  whose  sentence  we  are  to  rest,  can  be  no 
other  but  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  Scripture.'^ 

Confession  oe  Faith,  chap.  i.  sec.  x. 

"  No  more  cunning  plot  was  ever  conceived  against  the  free- 
dom, happiness  and  virtues  of  mankind  than  Romanism.'' 

Gladstone. 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM, 


BEFORE  considering  the  rise  of  Romanism  we  shall 
need  to  take  a  hasty  review  of  early  Christianity. 
The  apostolic  Church  accomplished  a  work  which  has 
been  the  wonder  of  the  ages.  The  purity  of  its  teach- 
ings, the  simplicity  of  its  worship  and  the  obscurity  of 
its  first  adherents  j)romised  no  such  results  as  were  wit- 
nessed in  the  first  century  after  Christ.  The  new  relig- 
ion was  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  world,  and  was 
opposed  by  it.  Accejited  philosophies  pronounced  it 
the  effect  of  mental  disorder,  the  spawn  of  moral  dis- 
temper. Earthly  kingdoms  were  arrayed  against  it 
and  a  demoniac  rage  girdled  it  with  fire.  But  it  went 
forth  to  its  mission  in  dependence  upon  Him  who  is 
invisible,  and  endued  with  power  from  on  high.  It 
mattered  not  that  no  ermine  clothed  it,  that  no  orators 
pleaded  its  cause,  that  no  imperial  aegis  overshadowed 
it,  that  no  armies  intimidated  its  foes.  It  won  its  con- 
quests by  means  of  superhuman  power,  by  its  adapta- 
tion to  conscious  need,  its  interpretation  of  reminiscences 
no  speculative  philosophy  coukl  define,  its  revelation  of 
possibilities  of  good  that  would  satisfy  the  race. 

The  polity  of  the  early  Church  was  favora])le  to  its 
spiritual  growth.  No  hierarchy  sought  to  dominate 
religious  life.     The  parity  of  the  ministry  was    main- 

11 


12  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

taiijcd.  The  sacred  Scriptures,  released  from  human 
traditions,  were  accepted  as  the  only  and  sufficient  rule 
of  faith  and  conduct.  Dedication  to  Christ  was  urged 
by  motives  drawn  from  divine  authority,  from  infinite 
love,  from  every  interest  that  gathered  about  human 
life  passing  through  nature  to  eternity. 

It  is  true  the  Church  even  then  was  not  perfect. 
There  were  stains  upon  the  first  pages  of  its  history. 
The  surrounding  world  sought  to  corrupt  it,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  marring  its  beauty.  Errors  found  entrance. 
Paganism  pressed  its  way  into  the  holy  places.  Gnos- 
ticism resisted  the  essential  elements  of  its  faith,  whilst 
older  sophistries  sought  to  poison  religious  life  at  its 
sources.  Yet  the  primitive  Church  was  singularly  pure, 
and  its  spiritual  force  hewed  for  itself  a  path  to  victory. 
It  passed  from  Jerusalem  into  the  remotest  regions, 
extending  "from  Cape  Comorin  to  Britain,  and  from 
Scythia  to  the  pillars  of  Hercnles — "  from  the  far 
Hiudostan  to  what  was  accounted  the  world's  western 
extreme.  The  success  of  the  gospel  is  admitted  by 
heathen  and  Christian  historians  alike.  Pliny  and 
Tacitus  are  in  accord  with  Tertullian  and  Eusebius. 
The  sneers  of  Celsus  carried  an  admission  of  its  prog- 
ress. 

The  persecutions  of  the  early  Church  guarded  its 
purity  and  extended  its  influence.  Roman  emperors 
endeavored  to  exterminate  its  followers,  but  unwittingly 
multiplied  their  numbers.  If  under  imperial  blows  the 
Church  for  a  little  went  down,  yet  like  the  fabled  Ant^us 
it  quickly  rose,  stronger  than  when  it  fell.  But  it  was 
not  long  until  radical  changes  occurred.  In  the  fourth 
century  the  Church,  in  the  person  of  a  Roman  emperor, 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  13 

ascended  the  throne  of  the  Caesars.  Then  it  seemed  to 
have  reached  the  summit  of  power  and  claimed  the 
world  as  its  ow^n. 

The  conversion  of  Constantine  marked  a  new  epoch  in 
ecclesiastical  history.  This  noted  emperor  had  been  a 
pagan.  Apollo  was  his  tutelar  god.  His  offerings  to 
imaginary  deities  were  so  munificent  as  to  command  the 
admiration  of  the  heathen  world  and  to  secure  him 
favorable  mention  in  the  history  of  his  age.  But  in 
course  of  time  he  seems  to  have  felt  the  need  of  a  high- 
er form  of  religious  belief.  Paganism  promised  neither 
victory  in  Avar  nor  blessing  in  peace.  He  was  persuaded 
that  his  empire  must  be  established  on  a  better  religion, 
and  the  more  nearly  that  religion  approximated  to  abso- 
lute truth  the  more  powerful  and  permanent  would  be 
the  throne  reared  upon  it.  Then,  it  may  be,  there  came 
to  him  a  consciousness  of  personal  need  which  paganism 
could  not  supply.  His  thoughts  may  have  traveled 
into  the  infinite  Beyond,  around  which  gathered  a  deep- 
ening solemnity,  and  he  may  have  louged  to  be  assured 
of  real  enduring  good.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  recorded 
that  during  an  Italian  campaign,  soon  after  the  sun  had 
passed  the  meridian,  there  appeared  in  the  firmament  a 
cross,  and  above  it  the  inscription,  "  In  hoc  signo  vinces  " 
— By  this  thou  shalt  conquer.  On  the  following  night 
it  is  said  that  Christ  himself  appeared  unto  Constantine 
and  directed  him  to  make  a  standard  in  the  form  of  the 
sign  he  had  seen  in  the  heavens.  Thus  originated  the 
Laharum  which  was  borne  at  the  head  of  imperial 
armies,  its  presence  regarded  a  pledge  of  victory.  It  is 
not  our  purpose  to  discuss  the  genuineness  of  Constan- 
tine's  conversion  or  the  motives  which  may  have  led  to 


14  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

his  adoption  of  the  Christian  religion,  but  simply  to 
indicate  its  relation  to  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
Church.  Christianity  became  the  established  religion 
of  the  empire.  The  sword  of  persecution  was  sheathed. 
Proscription  came  to  an  end.  The  shame  of  the  cross 
ceased.  The  long-venerated  Jupiter  vanished  before  the 
glories  of  Jehovah,  whose  dominion  is  universal  and 
eternal.  The  house  of  God  displaced  the  heathen  temple. 
The  Christian  Sabbath  became  a  civil  as  well  as  a  relig- 
ious institution,  and  its  sanctity  was  guarded  from  worldly 
encroachments.  The  subjugation  of  every  false  religion 
and  the  establishment  of  the  true  seemed  assured,  and 
piety  rejoiced  in  the  promise  of  that  crowning  day. 
But  triumph  may  be  defeat,  power  may  prove  weakness, 
and  glory  may  turn  to  shame.  It  was  not  long  until  the 
spirituality  of  the  Church  began  to  wane.  The  gospel 
was  soon  corrupted.  Pomp  and  splendor  and  gorgeous 
ceremony  supplanted  the  simple  worship  of  earlier  days. 
The  so-called  successors  of  the  apostles  grew  worldly, 
arrogant,  and  lovers  of  themselves  rather  than  of  God. 
The  Church  of  Christ  was  allied  to  an  earthly  king- 
dom, and  suifered  in  consequence  of  the  incongruous 
affiliation. 

Previous  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity  the  priest- 
hood of  paganism  dominated  every  form  of  life,  from 
the  humblest  hearthstone  to  the  throne.  Of  the  Eastern 
nations  history  records  that  their  respect  for  a  priest  was 
greater  than  that  for  the  king.  The  priests  coerced 
silence  by  their  edicts,  and  crowned  heads  were  as  sub- 
missive as  their  vassals.  This  autocracy  did  not  cease 
when  the  Christian  religion  under  Constantine  supplanted 
pagan  superstition.     It  simply  passed  from  the  possession 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  15 

of  the  former  into  the  hands  of  the  latter  priesthood, 
and  then  entered  upon  its  westward  march.  Gaul  and 
Germany  and  contiguous  countries  accepted  old  ideas  as 
to  priestly  pre-eminence.  Great  cathedrals  were  the 
seats  of  its  power.  Sacred  places  were  crowned  with 
monasteries,  and  the  wealth  of  the  latter  exceeded  the 
treasures  of  kings.  Earthly  potentates  thought  to  atone 
for  their  sins  by  costly  gifts  to  the  monastic  exchequer. 
They  even  transferred  cities,  castles  and  provinces  to  the 
high  officials  of  the  Church,  and  invested  them  with 
royal  prerogatives.  Spii'itual  teachers  became  secular 
rulers,  and  grew  more  corrupt  as  they  advanced  in  world- 
ly power.  Out  of  this  perversion  of  the  original  func- 
tions of  the  ministry  grew  that  hierarchy  which  destroyed 
freedom  of  thought,  enslaved  nations  and  subjugated 
kings. 

In  the  third  century  Cyprian  had  advocated  epis- 
copacy, and  hinted  that  supreme  rule  was  vested  in  the 
Roman  bishop.  The  early  presbyter  was  degraded  that 
primacy  might  be  enthroned.  Irenseus  and  Tertulliau 
insisted  upon  the  equality  of  all  the  apostolic  churches, 
and  in  every  question  of  doctrine  or  polity  deferred  to 
their  decisions.  Meanwhile,  Constantinople  sought  the 
pre-eminence. 

But  it  was  not  long  until  Rome,  the  capital  of 
^lie  great  empire  of  the  West,  its  grandeur  crowning 
the  seven  hills,  its  possibilities  of  advancement  acknowl- 
edged and  its  claim  to  perpetual  superiority  not  wholly 
unquestioned,  began  to  demand  ecclesiastical  in  connec- 
tion with  civil  supremacy.  The  Church  in  the  Orient, 
on  the  South  and  in  the  West  consented  that  the 
bishop  of  Rome  should   be   recognized  as  supreme,  and 


16  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

the  Bosphorus  was  compelled  to  see  its  sceptre  of  power 
traiisferretl  to  the  Tiber. 

Leo  L,  styled  the  Great,  may  be  considered  the  first 
in  the  long  line  of  popes.  Under  him  Roman  Cathol- 
icism assumed  a  theocratic  form,  and  became  an  in- 
stitution or  polity  which  has  held  its  place  until  the 
present.  Until  Leo  arose  in  the  might  of  his  ambition, 
the  bishop  of  Rome  was  in  theory  simply  equal  in  power 
with  other  bishops,  although  superior  deference  had  been 
accorded  to  him  because  of  the  unequaled  splendor  of 
the  city  which  was  the  seat  of  his  bishopric.  But  Leo 
was  not  satisfied  with  this.  He  claimed  that  the  bishop 
of  Rome  was  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  and  that  the 
primacy  belonged  to  that  apostle  by  the  direct,  positive 
designation  of  our  Lord.  On  this  rock  the  Church  was 
to  be  built.  Peter  himself  had  established  this  suprem- 
acy at  Rome.  The  basilica  by  the  Tiber,  displacing  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  Vatican  us,  was  the  monument  the 
Church  had  reared  over  the  dust  of  the  holy  martyr  to 
commemorate  both  his  moral  heroism  and  his  ecclesias- 
tical primacy.  ^N'ot  by  way  of  Constantinople  or  Carthage 
or  any  other  claimant  of  pre-eminence,  but  through 
Rome,  came  this  great  distinction.  Here  Peter,  to 
whom  had  been  committed  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell, 
the  representative  of  the  absent  Christ,  as  his  vicegerent, 
had  erected  his  seat  of  jurisdiction.  Valentinian  III., 
then  occupying  the  imperial  throne,  sent  forth  his  decree 
declaring  that  the  primacy  of  St.  Peter  had  ceased  to  be 
a  question  of  dispute.  His  appointment  to  the  iwntif- 
icate  by  the  Lord  himself,  the  decision  of  the  Council  of 
Nice  and  the  dignity  of  Rome  had  set  the  matter  for 
ever  at  rest,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Roman  See  must 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  17 

be  recognized  by  the  bishops  of  Gaul  and  all  others  or 
they  must  incur  the  imperial  displeasure. 

Thus  under  I^eo  the  Great,  iu  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century,  the  religion  of  Rome  became  a  government, 
rearing  its  throne  among  the  seven  hills,  demanding  the 
allegiance  and  submission  of  the  universal  Church,  con- 
straining every  Christian  to  bow  and  worship  on  the 
steps  of  its  power.  _. 

There  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  that  Christ  desig- 
nated Peter  to  any  such  lordship  over  his  Church.  It 
was  not  on  this  disciple,  but  on  his  confession  of  Christ, 
that  the  Church  was  to  be  built — on  the  Fetra,  not  the 
Petros.  Neither  is  there  any  certain  proof  that  Peter 
was  ever  in  Rome.  In  none  of  his  Epistles  does  he 
intimate  it.  Paul  dwelt  in  Rome  and  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom beyond  one  of  its  gates,  but  in  his  letters  to  the 
churches  and  to  personal  friends  he  does  not  make  the 
slightest  allusion  to  Peter,  even  as  a  visitor  to  the  imper- 
ial city.  No  manuscript  of  the  first  century  contains  any 
record  by  which  the  Romish  Church  can  substantiate  the 
claim  which  is  made  the  corner-stone  of  the  papal  system. 
It  was  not  until  all  the  apostles  and  the  generation  to 
which  they  belonged  had  passed  away,  and  the  second 
century  was  about  to  close,  that  the  Clementine  Homilies 
announced  Peter  as  bishop  of  Rome.  The  groundless 
assumption  became  a  tradition,  and  the  next  generation 
handed  it  down  to  its  successor. 

The  claim  of  Leo  met  with  opposition.  The  Eastern 
Church  denied  his  right  to  the  tiara.  Nevertheless,  he 
held  his  ground  and  wore  the  papal  crown.  It  has 
well  been  said  that  "Paul  saw  the  incipient  workings 
of  the  ^  mystery  of  iniquity.'     The  twilight  then  began 


18  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

which  advanced  in  slow  progress  to  midnight  dark- 
ness. Superstition,  which  is  so  congenial  with  the 
human  mind,  was  added  to  superstition,  and  absurdity 
to  absurdity." 

"The  Roman  hierarchy,  amidst  alternate  successes 
and  defeats,  struggled  hard  for  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
sovereignty.  Leo,  Gregory,  Innocent  and  Boniface  in 
their  several  days  advanced  the  papacy  on  the  ruins  of 
episcopacy  and  royalty,  bishops  and  kings."  The  power 
of  this  false  system  attained  its  culmination  under  Leo 
X.,  when  the  holy  pontiff  compelled  imperial  heads  to 
lay  their  crowns  at  his  feet  and  provincial  bishops  to 
address  him  as  their  god.  In  the  Council  of  the  Lat- 
eran,  Stephen,  archbishop  of  Petraca,  declared  that  Leo 
possessed  "  power  above  all  powers,  both  in  heaven  and 
in  earth,''  thus  exalting  him  "  above  all  that  is  called 
God,"  and  going  beyond  Marcellus,  who  in  the  same 
council  styled  the  pope  "God  on  earth."  From  that 
blasphemous  summit,  flinging  its  affront  in  the  face  of 
Jehovah  and  claiming  more  than  divine  prerogatives, 
the  papacy  began  its  descent,  and  down  the  long  slope, 
hesitating,  resisting  and  struggling  to  recover  its  power, 
it  is  going  to  its  burial.  In  our  own  day,  immediately 
succeeding  the  enunciation  of  papal  infallibility  by  the 
ecumenical  council,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  lost  his 
temporal  power,  and  instead  of  Pius  IX.  reigned  Victor 
Emmanuel,  a  suggestion  of  the  final  and  worldwide  tri- 
umph of  the  King  of  kings. 

As  a  religion,  in  distinction  from  its  government, 
Roman  Catholicism  is  an  admixture  of  truth  and  error. 
It  apparently  rests  on  a  scriptural  foundation.  The 
superstructure  is  wood,  hay  and  stubble.     Yet,  bad  as 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  19 

it  is,  it  is  better  than  any  form  of  infidelity — better  than 
any  other  religion  called  Christian  which  directly  denies 
the  essential  doctrines  of  our  holy  faith.  The  Roman 
Church  in  its  creed  maintains  the  personality  and  sov- 
ereignty of  God,  the  personal  Godhead  of  Jesus  Christ, 
salvation  through  the  blood  of  the  cross,  the  necessity 
of  holy  living  and  a  future  state  of  retribution.  At 
the  same  time,  these  cardiual  principles  are  obscured  or 
modified  by  grave  errors.  The  truth  is  in  the  Confes- 
sion, but  is  hidden  under  the  rubbish  of  human  tradi- 
tions, the  decrees  of  councils  and  the  supplementary 
teaching  of  popes  whose  prerogative  it  is  to  transmute 
sin  into  duty  and  falsehood  iuto  truth.  Hence  by  far 
the  larger  part  of  the  Romish  communion,  occupied 
with  the  errors  of  tlie  papacy,  never  discover  saving 
truth.  — 

Romanists  deny  the  completeness  of  the  Sacred  Script' 
ures.  They  teach  that  doctrines  essential  to  salvation 
are  only  obscurely  presented  in  the  word  of  God. 
Hence  the  divine  revelation  finds  its  complement  and 
interpretation  in  tradition.  The  obscurity  which  en- 
velops the  Bible  impairs  its  value  and  may  mislead 
souls.  The  Church  is  a  safer  guide  to  faith — not  that 
it  sets  aside  the  Scriptures,  but  because  it  discovers 
their  meaning.  All  this  is  dishonoring  to  the  word  of 
God,  the  entrance  of  which  gives  light  and  life.  -^ 

The  Bible  is  withheld  from  the  laity.  Exceptions 
are  made,  but  they  are  reluctantly  granted  and  are  few. 
Gregory  VII.,  Innocent  III.,  Clement  XI.  and  Pius 
IV.  "made  the  liberty  to  read  any  version  of  the 
Scriptures  dependent  on  the  permission  of  the  priest." 
In  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 


20  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

any  one  who  reads  the  Holy  Scriptures  without  the 
consent  of  his  spiritual  adviser  "may  not  receive 
absolution  of  his  sins  except  he  first  deliver  up  his 
Bible  to  the  ordinary."  Pius  IX.  pronounced  the 
American  and  Foreign  Bible  societies  "moral  pests." 
It  seems  to  be  assumed  that  the  most  of  Eoman  Catho- 
lics are  unlearned  and  unstable,  and  would  wrest  the 
Scriptures  to  their  own  destruction.  It  is  the  province 
of  the  priest  to  read,  or  to  permit  to  be  read,  portions 
of  the  word  of  God,  and  his  interpretation  of  the  frag- 
mentary Scriptures  must  be  accepted  by  the  loyal 
papist. 

The  so-called  infallibility  of  the  Church  of  Rome  is 
against  freedom  of  inquiry  and  belief  of  essential  truth. 
If  the  Church  is  infallible,  then  it  is  unchangeable ;  and 
if  unchangeable — and  this  by  a  logical  sequence — then 
all  the  decrees  of  the  popes  and  councils,  however  erro- 
neous, must  stand  through  all  ages,  and  from  their 
supremacy  there  is  no  escape.  This  principle  also  dis- 
courages inquiry  by  the  history  of  its  application. 
The  infallible  Church  burnt  heretics,  hung  them  on 
gibbets,  broke  them  on  racks,  drowned  them  in  the  sea. 
In  doing  this  it  claims  to  have  done  the  will  of  God, 
and  what  has  been  done  may  be  done  again.  The  prin- 
ciples and  spirit  of  Romanism,  according  to  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Church,  cannot  change.  This  being  so, 
restraint  upon  the  papacy  is  sin,  and  it  only  waits  an 
increase  of  power  that  it  may  repeat  St.  Bartholomew's 
Day  and  the  Inquisition. 

We  think  better  things  of  Roman  Catholicism  than 
it  can  logically  claim  for  itself.  Nevertheless,  the 
shadow  of  the  past,  creeping  on  with  the  passing  years, 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  21 

darkens  the  spiritual  UDderstanding  by  prevcDting  accesg~7 
to  the  sources  of  truth.  ' 

The  office  of  faith  is  perverted  in  the  Romish  Church. 
All  that  is  requisite  to  salvation  is  "  a  general  intention 
to  believe  whatever  the  Church  believes."  This  inten- 
tion may  exist  in  connection  with  pi'ofound  ignorance 
and  absolute  disbelief.  The  Church  exalts  itself  above 
Christ,  makes  non-essential  that  which  is  necessary  to 
salvation,  and  essential  that  submission  to  the  Church 
which  God  has  not  required.  If  it  is  not  necessary  to 
know  the  truth,  then  the  Bible  may  be  withheld  from 
the  people,  the  worship  of  the  Church  may  be  conducted 
in  an  unknown  tongue  and  the  pulpit  may  refrain  from 
a  clear  enunciation  of  truth.  All  that  is  required  is 
blind  assent  to  the  guidance  of  the  Church  as  a  divine 
institution  for  saving  men,  and  submission  to  its  author- 
ity. Out  of  all  this  has  grown  the  so-called  aphorism 
of  Romanism  :  "  Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  devotion," 
evidently  accepted  by  so  great  a  teacher  as  Cardinal 
Newman,  who  said,  '^Religious  light  is  intellectual 
darkness."  This  directly  contravenes  the  divine  dec- 
laration that  we  are  ^'chosen  unto  salvation  through 
belief  of  the  truth,"  and  dishonors  the  Holy  Spirit, 
whose  office  it  is  to  guide  into  all  truth. 

There  is  a  strange  mingling  of  the  false  and  the  true 
in  the  Romish  religion.  Persons  received  to  member- 
ship are  expected  to  recite,  whether  they  understand 
and  ex  animo  accept  it  or  not,  the  Niceue  Creed.  This 
contains  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity.  But 
this  formula  is  followed  by  another  confession  which 
incorporates  the  gravest  errors  and  virtually  denies  the 
first.     A  saving  truth  is  announced,  and  then  it  is  dis- 


22  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

placed  by  false  doctrine,  or  in  the  minds  of  many  is 
obscured  by  erroneous  beliefs  and  practices  that  are 
associated  with  it.  They  are  happy  who  stop  with  the 
Nicene  Creed ;  they  are  to  be  commiserated  who  follow 
false  lights  into  moral  jungles  and  spiritual  night. 
There  have  always  been  devout  Christians  in  the  Romish 
Church.  Some  have  towered  in  piety  and  have  well 
deserved  the  appellation  of  saints.  Many  priests  have 
trusted  in  Christ,  loved  him,  and  now  share  his  glory. 
Wyclif  and  Savonarola  were  Reformers,  but  they  con- 
tinued in  the  Church  of  Rome.  Martin  Luther  was  a 
Christian  before  he  climbed  Pilate's  Staircase  and  re- 
nounced the  papacy.  Pascal,  Anselm,  F^nelon,  Madame 
Guion,  Faber,  were  believers  eminent  in  holiness.  There 
are  such  Christians  in  the  Romish  Church  in  our  day, 
and  such  priests  as  Lacordaire  and  P^re  Hyacinthe, 
who  have  planted  their  feet  on  the  Rock  of  Ages  and 
trust  only  in  the  ascended  Lamb.  But  this  fact  does  not 
prove  the  Romish  system  divine  or  its  teachings  in  their 
entirety  true.  Men  and  women  have  been  Christians 
in  spite  of  Romanism,  not  because  of  it.  They  are 
like  some  plants  which  thrive  in  the  shade,  where  the 
most  of  plants  would  droop  and  die. 

Among  the  grave  errors  of  the  Romish  Church  may 
be  mentioned  the  doctrine  of  the  mass.  Concerning  it 
the  Council  of  Trent  declared  that  it  is  "  a  true  and 
proper  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  offered  up  to  the  Father 
by  the  hands  of  the  priest ;  that  it  is  a  propitiation  for 
sin,  not  only  of  the  living,  but  of  the  dead  ;  that  it  is 
rightfully  performed  when  the  words  of  consecration 
are  uttered  in  an  unknown  tongue  and  in  a  low  voice." 
This  doctrine  degrades  the  death  of  Christ,  who  "  hath 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  23 

by  one  offering  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sancti- 
fied/' It  takes  salvation  out  of  Christ's  hands  and 
commits  it  to  the  priest.  It  makes  the  repetition  of 
the  sacrifice  of  the  cross  necessary  to  the  remission  of 
sins ;  and  this  involves  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
in  which  a  priest  clad  in  vestments,  speaking  "  in  an  un- 
known tongue  and  in  a  low  voice/'  by  a  single  wave  of 
his  hand  transmutes  bread  into  the  actual  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  summons  the  adorable  Medi- 
ator from  his  throne  to  repeat  his  sacrifice  for  sin.  The 
table  which  Christ  spread  the  same  night  in  which  he 
was  betrayed,  designed  to  be  a  memorial  of  the  death 
about  to  be  accomplished,  the  only  and  sufficient  sacri- 
fice for  all  the  ages,  is  supplanted  by  the  offering  of 
Romanism,  and  another  priesthood  succeeds  the  Levitical, 
presenting  not  a  symbolic  sacrifice,  but  a  real  one,  and 
that  of  the  enthroned  and  glorified  Christ.  We  cannot 
conceive  of  a  more  obvious  falsehood,  a  grosser  super- 
stition or  a  greater  crime. 

The  Mariolatry  of  Romanism  is  a  deflection  from 
saving  truth,  and  is  unquestionable  idolatry.  The  Virgin 
Mary  receives  more  honor  than  her  Son.  More  souls 
cling  to  her  ski-rts  than  hide  in  the  cross.  Even  in  our 
own  century  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  addressing  the  faith- 
ful, said,  ^^  Let  us  raise  our  eyes  to  the  most  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  who  alone  destroys  heresy,  who  is  our 
greatest  hope — yea,  the  entire  ground  of  our  hope."  A 
Roman  Catholic  manual  now  extant  contains  the  follow- 
ing invocation :  "  O  Holy  Virgin,  mother  of  God ; 
my  advocate  and  patroness !  Pray  for  thy  poor  servant, 
and  show  thyself  a  mother  to  me.''  Observe  the  follow- 
ing stanza  in  the  Stabat  Mater : 

'6 


24  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

"  O  Christ !  when  thou  shalt  call  me  hence 
Grant  me,  through  thy  mother, 
The  palm  of  victory." 

Again :  "  O  most  Blessed  Virgin,  vouchsafe  to  negoti- 
ate, for  and  with  us,  the  work  of  our  salvation  by  thy 
powerful  intercession."  Where  now  is  our  ever-to-be- 
adored  Lord,  whom  the  Scriptures  declare  to  be  our 
Advocate  with  the  Father,  and  able  to  save  unto  the 
uttermost,  since  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
us?  By  what  authority,  save  that  of  the  Romish 
Church,  is  Mary  declared  to  be  "queen  of  heaven," 
"  bright  queen  of  heaven,"  "  holy  mother "  and  "  sov- 
ereign queen,"  "mother  of  grace  and  clemency"?  Has 
Christ  left  his  throne  ?  Has  Mary  supplanted  her  own 
Lord  and  only  Saviour  ?  Shall  this  most  honored  of 
women  so  fill  the  horizon  of  our  most  devout  hours  that 
her  Son  shall  be  practically  hidden  or  remain  a  helpless 
babe  in  the  arms  of  the  holy  mother? 

Now,  far  be  it  from  us  to  say  that  all  Romanists  are 
guilty  of  this  idolatry,  or  that  the  Virgin  in  every  instance 
shuts  out  of  view  her  greater  Son.  But,  in  profound  sad- 
ness be  it  said,  this  Mariolatry  sweeps  a  broad  circle  ard 
at  its  altar  many  perish.  The  human  heart,  we  know, 
craves  a  mother,  and  when  storms  are  abroad  would  hide 
^'tn  her  bosom.  But  it  hath  pleased  the  Father  that  in 
Christ,  our  only  Mediator,  should  all  fullness  dwell. 
His  sympathy  exceeds  that  of  a  mother,  as  heaven  is 
higher  than  the  earth  and  infinity  outruns  the  finite. 
There  is  no  comforter  like  him.  None  has  an  arm  so 
strong  to  suj)port.  He  is  the  Consolation  of  Israel,  in 
the  folds  of  whose  priestly  robes  his  own  mother  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh  humbly  hides  and  there  remains. 


TEE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  25 

Associated  with  Mariolatry  is  tlie  worship  of  saints 
and  the  veneration  paid  to  their  images.  This  is  a 
rebaptized  heathenism.  The  ancient  Greeks  worshiped 
heroes,  and  by  an  accepted  apotheosis  converted  them 
into  gods.  Hercules  was  a  deified  man,  so  was  ^scu- 
lapius,  so  were  others.  There  were  gods  many.  They 
filled  the  aisles  of  Minerva's  temple  and  the  niches  of 
the  Pantheon,  and  attracted  the  devout  to  humbler 
shrines.  Rome  has  its  army  of  saints,  and  these,  ac- 
cording to  the  creed  of  Pius  IV.,  are  to  be  worshiped 
and  prayed  to ;  they  are  believed  to  offer  prayers  unto 
God  in  behalf  of  the  faithful;  their  relics  are  to  be  had 
in  veneration,  and  to  their  images  due  honor  and  wor- 
ship should  be  paid.  This  is  idolatry.  It  practically 
exalts  saints  to  a  level  with  Christ,  the  only  Mediator. 
It  dishonors  our  Lord,  diverts  attention  from  him  and 
separates  the  soul  from  the  sources  of  spiritual  succor. 

As  respects  the  use  of  images,  it  may  be  urged  that 
they  are  aids  to  devotion  and  a  stimulus  to  holy  liv- 
ing. They  transfer  the  thoughts  of  the  worshiper  to  the 
life  beyond,  and  suggest  the  possibility  of  attaining  to 
higher  stages  of  piety,  even  to  like  distinction  with 
canonized  saints,  on  condition  of  faithful  service  to  the 
Church.  This  is  a  theoretic  interpretation  of  the  office 
of  images  which  does  not,  as  a  rule,  aifect  the  practical 
result.  History  and  personal  consciousness  declare  the 
tendency  of  our  nature  to  idolatry  and  to  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  images  themselves  for  the  spiritual  truths 
they  are  supposed  to  suggest. 

The  doctrine  of  purgatory  is  devoutly  held  by  the 
Romish  Church.  The  souls  confined  in  it,  purified  by 
suffering,  may  receive  aid  from  surviving  friends,  and 


26  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

tlie  coffers  of  the  Church  are  replenished  by  offerings 
which  secure  the  repetition  of  the  mass  in  behalf  of 
the  dead.  This  doctrine  debases  the  work  of  Christ, 
since  it  declares  the  insufficiency  of  his  atonement  by 
the  supplement  of  purgatorial  pains.  The  doctrine  of 
purgatory,  with  the  support  it  gives  to  other  errors,  is 
as  mercenary  as  it  is  unscriptural.  It  appeals  to  the 
profoundest  sympathy  and  most  cherished  affections  of 
our  nature.  Even  poverty  will  suffer  great  privations 
that  it  may  serve  the  departed,  whilst  wealth  enriches 
the  Church  by  its  purchase  of  prayers  for  the  dead. 
Many  of  the  faithful  in  their  wills  designate  large  sums 
to  this  end  in  their  own  behalf.  Philip  V.  of  Spain 
thus  ordered  one  thousand  masses  to  be  said  for  the 
repose  of  his  soul,  and,  thinking  that  this  might  exceed 
the  necessities  in  his  case,  generously  provided  that  the 
excess,  if  any,  ^'  should  be  credited  and  made  revertible 
to  poor  solitary  souls  concerning  whom  no  person  be- 
stowed a  thought." 

This  doctrine  is  a  cruel  one.  The  prospect  of  purga- 
torial pains  darkens  the  life  of  such  as  implicitly  believe 
it.  It  increases  the  natural  fear  of  death,  and  launches 
the  soul  with  unspeakable  dread  into  the  inflictions  of  an 
intermediate  state.  It  aggravates  the  sadness  of  bereave- 
ment, since  it  denies  the  departed  soul  an  immediate  en- 
trance into  heaven,  and  commits  it  to  sufferings  of  an 
indefinite  nature  and  duration.  None  are  exempt  from 
those  venial  sins  which  subject  to  this  necessity.  Even 
the  pope  must  take  purgatory  on  his  way  to  heaven,  and 
masses  are  said  for  the  early  release  of  his  soul.  In 
what  marked  contrast  does  this  stand  with  the  belief  of 
Protestant  Christians,  tliat  the  souls  of  believers  are  at 


THE  RISE  OF  ROMANISM.  27 

their  death  made  perfect  in  holiness  and  do  innnediately 
pass  into  glory — one  moment  the  final  farewell  to  earth, 
the  next  the  deep  swell  of  the  angelic  anthem  ! 

Thus  error  hides  the  truth.  The  Standards  of  the 
Romish  Church  and  the  decrees  of  her  councils  uphold 
the  essential  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  then  by  human 
additions  practically  destroy  them.  Many  receive  the 
truth,  and  through  it  are  saved.  But  we  fear  a  far 
greater  number  are  occupied  with  the  grass  errors  which 
hide  the  truth  or  nullify  it,  and  go  to  their  account  with 
a  lie  in  their  right  hand. 

Not  wishing  to  extend  this  review  of  Romanism,  it 
may  suffice  to  say  that  it  insists  upon  withholding  many 
inherent  rights  and  privileges  the  exercise  and  posses- 
sion of  which  are  needful  to  the  highest  interests  of  the 
individual  and  the  State.  For  example,  the  right  of 
private  judgment  is  denied.  Men  may  not  think,  judge 
and  decide  for  themselves.  The  faculties  God  gave  them 
may  not  be  used  for  the  purpose  evidently  intended. 
The  Romanist  must  bow  to  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  Holy  See  or  be  hung  in  the  halter  of  excommu- 
nication. The  Vatican  also  hurls  its  anathemas  against 
those  outside  the  pale  of  the  Church  who  dare  to  exer- 
cise their  own  judgment  touching  matters  of  faith,  though 
they  claim  to  be  guided  by  the  word  of  God.  This  is 
the  most  fearful  appropriation  of  authority  of  which 
history  furnishes  any  record,  and  deserves,  as  it  has 
received,  the  severest  condemnation. 

Finally,  the  Church  of  Rome  has  always  been  hostile  to 
every  form  of  civil  liberty.  The  attitude  of  Lord  Baltimore 
in  these  latter  times  does  not  disprove  this,  nor  the  fact  that 
Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  a  Roman  Catholic,  signed 


28  R03TANISM  AND   THE  BE  FORMERS. 

the  Declaration  of  Americiin  Indepeudence,  and  that 
many  other  Roman  Catholics  have  been  loyal  to  the 
principles  of  freedom.  From  the  time  of  Innocent 
III.  until  the  present,  Romanism  has  maintained  this 
attitude  of  opposition,  and,  wlierever  it  has  been  pos- 
sible, has  resisted  democratic  rule  and  religious  free- 
dom. The  Church  claims  supremacy  over  the  State. 
The  Church,  not  the  people,  is  the  source  of  power,  and 
may  resort  to  force  in  the  maintenance  of  this  supremacy. 
It  may  make  kings  the  servants  of  its  will,  as  when  it 
constrained  Charles  IX.  of  France,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Catherine  de  Medici,  to  order  the  massacre  of 
St.  Bartliolemew  ^s  Day.  The  history  of  the  Inquisition, 
originated  by  Pope  Gregory  IX.  and  continued  by  his 
successors,  is  another  outgrowth  of  this  dogma  of  the 
Church.  The  kings  of  Spain,  of  France  and  the  Neth- 
erlands, as  servants  of  the  Church,  maintained  the  pow- 
er of  the  "  Holy  Office,"  and  fettered  the  limbs  of  their 
subjects.  Isabella,  queen  of  Castile,  boasted  that  "in 
the  love  of  Christ  and  his  maid  mother  "  she  had  caused 
great  misery,  and  had  depopulated  towns  and  districts, 
provinces  and  kingdoms.  She  was  obedient  to  the  pope, 
and  for  her  submission  well  deserved,  as  interpreted  by 
Romanism,  the  surname  of  "  The  Catholic'' — her  memory 
in  some  measure  relieved  of  the  odium  which  attaches 
to  it  by  her  favor  shown  to  Columbus,  which  resulted  in 
the  discovery  of  a  New  World,  the  home  of  Protestant 
Christianity. 


JOHN  WYCLIF. 


"  The  entrance  of  thy  words  giveth  light;  it giveth  ynder- 

itayiding  unto  the  simple'' 

Ps.  1 1'9  :  130. 

"Although  all  are  not  permitted  to  read  the  word  publicly  to 
the  congregatioji,  yet  all  sorts  of  people  are  bound  to  read  it 
apart  by  themselves,  aiid  with  their  families :  to  which  end.  the 
Holy  Scriptures  are  to  be  translated  out  of  the  original  into 
the  vulgar  languages y 

Larger  Catechism,  Answ.  to  Question   [56. 


WYCLIF. 


WYCLIF  has  been  appropriately  styled  "the  Morn- 
ing Star  of  the  Reformation/^  The  night  of 
Romanism  had  been  long.  Trnth  had  not  wholly  dis- 
appeared, but  its  influence  was  limited  and  an  intelligent 
faith  was  almost  unknown.  Meanwhile,  God  reigned 
and  waited  his  time.  Out  of  the  bosom  of  the  night 
the  morning  shall  be  born. 

This  result  was  gradually  attained.  The  law  of 
growth  which  obtains  in  nature  ruled  in  the  spiritual 
world.  First,  there  were  the  intimations  of  light  along 
the  horizon,  then  the  dawn,  and  at  last  the  day  traveling 
on  toward  the  resplendent  noon.  In  our  retrospect  we 
are  now  to  take  our  stand  on  the  margin  of  the  great 
Reformation  with  our  faces  toward  the  east,  waiting  for 
the  morning.  Conveyed  in  thought  to  that  distant  age, 
we  are  surrounded  with  the  insignia  of  a  rude  civiliza- 
tion. Ignorance,  superstition  and  sin  control  the  masses. 
The  glare  of  Druid  altars,  it  is  true,  has  disappeared. 
The  woods  and  the  night  have  ceased  to  resound  with 
the  bowlings  of  pagan  worship.  Wodin  and  Thor  have 
left  their  thrones,  and  none  remain  to  do  them  reverence. 
The  Christian  faith  which  the  preceding  generations  re- 
ceived from  pious  merchants  who  came  from  the  Mean- 
der and  the  Hermas,  and  which  the  royal  Alfred  sedulously 
nourished,  had  lifted  the  people  to  the  higher  planes  of 

31 


32  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

life,  social  and  religious,  but  the  elevation  was  compara- 
tively sllo-lit.  And  now  even  the  foothills  of  human 
ascent  are  still  higher  and  their  shadows  cover  the  low 
level. 

The  religion  of  the  British  isles  is  a  compound  of 
paganism  and  Christianity.  There  is  much  truth  in  the 
written  summary  of  belief,  little  in  the  apprehensions 
of  the  people,  still  less  in  their  lives.  False  doctrines 
and  foolish  traditions  have  engaged  attention  to  the 
neglect  of  fundamental  truth. 

But  there  appear  signs  of  restlessness.  Loyalty  to 
the  Koman  See  is  less  pronounced  than  once.  The 
hierarchy  whose  seat  is  beyond  the  Alps  is  a  waning 
power.  The  Teutonic  spirit  is  beginning  to  assert  itself, 
and  drops  some  hints  of  unwilling  subjection  to  the  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter.  Columba  was  England's  saint,  and 
Augustine  must  take  an  inferior  place.  The  Synod  of 
Whitby,  which  in  the  seventh  century  enforced  a  foreign 
ritual  and  polity,  has  become  an  unpleasant  memory  to 
many  and  they  would  modify  the  legacy  it  left  or  remand 
it  to  the  murky  Tiber.  The  ecclesiasticism  fostered  by 
William  the  Conqueror  ;  the  prevalence  of  Norman  ideas, 
customs  and  faith ;  the  elevation  of  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter  above  the  throne  of  the  Edwards  ;  and  the  humili- 
ation of  England's  king, — all  this  is  gradually  stirring 
the  slumbering  spirit  of  the  Northmen,  and  gathering 
the  threads  which  shall  yet  bind  the  hands  of  popes  and 
restrain  their  power  in  the  adopted  lands  of  the  Teutons. 
The  trium})h  of  the  Roman  See  in  the  reign  of  John, 
surnamed  Lackland,  which  made  England  an  estate  of 
the  papal  Church  and  her  king  a  vassal  of  the  pontiff, 
was  succeeded  by  a  counter-victory,  which  in  the  year 


WYCLIF.  33 

1215  secured  to  England  the  Magna  Cliarta,  the  corner- 
stone of  constitutional  government  and  pledge  of  popular 
liberty. 

The  way  is  being  prepared  for  conquests  in  a  higher 
sphere.  The  kingdom  of  Christ,  in  the  simplicity  and 
purity  of  apostolic  times,  is  about  to  inaugurate  a  better 
day  and  perpetuate  a  more  peaceful  reign.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  wellnigh  all  learn- 
ing confined  to  monasteries  and  a  few  who  supported 
the  dignity  of  the  throne,  religious  truth  obscured  and 
the  word  of  God  bound,  there  is  born  one  whom 
Heaven  has  chosen  as  a  herald  of  a  spiritual  resur- 
rection. The  voice  of  a  stern  prophet  is  heard  amid 
the  solitudes  and  in  i\\Q  places  of  public  concourse; 
and  if  that  generation  fail  to  witness  the  coming  of 
Christ,  they  shall  at  least  hear  his  footsteps  portending 
the  promised  day.  Robert  Grossetete,  the  learned 
bishop  of  Lincoln  ;  Henry  Bracton,  the  eminent  jur- 
ist, versed  in  English  common  law ;  William  of 
Occam,  the  •  Franciscan  who  resisted  the  absolutism  of 
the  Roman  hierarchy ;  and  Thomas  Bradwardine,  styled 
the  "Profound  Doctor,"  and  written  in  history  as  the 
"  mighty  champion  of  grace," — all  these,  catching  gleams 
of  light  from  the  cross  and  allured  to  the  higher  hills  of 
religious  thought,  have  prepared  the  way  for  loftier  as- 
cents. 

John  Wyclif  appeared  in  the  fullness  of  time,  not  to 
consummate  the  work  of  Reformation,  but  to  announce 
its  approach  and  to  lead  the  Church  toward  it.  As  to 
the  precise  time  and  place  of  'his  birth,  certainty  has 
not  been  reached,  but  the  approximation  is  quite  suffi- 
cient.    John  Leland,  an  eminent  historian,  said,  "  It  is 


34  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

reported  that  John  Wyclif,  the  heretic,  was  born  at 
Spresswell,  a  small  village  a  good  mile  off  from  Rich- 
mond." It  is  probable  that  his  birth  occurred  in  1324, 
although  some  authorities  indicate  an  earlier  date.  The 
place,  located  in  the  north-western  part  of  the  county 
of  York,  in  the  valley  of  the  Tees,  was  beautiful  for 
situation.  Long  ranges  of  hills  overlooked  the  mead- 
ows, and  wooded  slopes  extended  to  the  river  which 
wound  peacefully  toward  the  German  Sea.  The  educa- 
tional influence  of  his  natural  environment  had  not  a 
little  to  do  with  the  formation  of  Wyclif 's  character,  as 
John  Knox  was  influenced  by  the  more  rugged  features 
of  his  northern  home  and  John  Calvin  by  the  pictur- 
esque beauty  of  France  and  the  grandeur  of  the  Alps 
which  girdled  Lake  Leman.  But  there  were  agencies 
far  more  potential  that  determined  his  habits  of  thought 
and  chiseled  into  impressive  form  his  exceptional  man- 
hood. The  period  in  which  he  lived,  the  race  to  which 
he  belonged,  the  influence  of  great  minds  going  imme- 
diately before,  and,  above  all,  the  grace  of  God  working 
through  the  inspired  word,  lifted  him  above  the  common 
level.  It  was  well  for  the  Church,  waiting  release  from 
a  cruel,  relentless  hierarchy,  that  Wyclif  was  born  in 
England,  of  Anglo-Saxon  parents,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  rather  than  on  the  Campagna 
divided  by  the  Tiber,  of  Italian  descent  and  in  the 
time  of  Hildebrand  or  of  Gregory  X.  But  whilst  his 
family  possessed  the  sterling  qualities  which  made  the 
Saxons  a  great  people,  and  retained  many  of  the  earlier 
characteristics  which  distinguished  the  Germans  from 
the  Normans,  yet  they  were  unswerving  adherents  to 
the  papacy,  and  transmitted  their  devotion  to  the  gen- 


WYCLIF.  35 

erations  succeeding.  Robert  Wyclif,  who  lived  in  York- 
shire, a  parish  priest  of  Riidly,  died  in  the  faith  of  his 
fathers,  having  no  sympathy  with  the  Reformer  who 
was  his  senior,  commending  his  soul  to  "  Almighty  God, 
to  St.  Mary  and  to  all  the  saints.'^ 

It  is  probable  that  Wyclif  in  his  boyhood  received 
instruction  from  the  priest  to  whose  parish  his  family 
belonged,  and  at  a  later  period  was  sent  t€  Oxford,  even 
then  noted  for  its  educational  advantages,  though  far  in- 
ferior to  the  universities  of  the  present.  It  was  about 
the  year  1335  that  he  entered  either  Baliol  or  Queen's 
College,  probably  the  former,  where  he  was  much  de- 
voted to  '^  logical  and  dialectical  studies.''  He  after- 
ward became  a  fellow  of  Merton,  and  in  1361  was 
recalled  to  Baliol  as  its  master.  Theological  studies 
had  engaged  much  of  his  attention,  and  these  compassed 
a  wide  range.  He  was  no  doubt  familiar  with  the 
writings  of  Augustine  and  Thomas  Aquinas  and  later 
theologians.  He  never  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the 
Greek  language,  hence  he  never  read  the  New  Testament 
in  the  original  text ;  but  he  was  a  diligent  student  of 
the  Latin  Vulgate.  For  six  years,  it  is  presumed,  he 
was  occupied  with  the  study  of  theology.  This  period 
succeeded  that  which  was  devoted  to  general  sciences. 
As  master  of  Baliol  he  gave  lectures  on  philosophy ;  as 
a  bachelor  of  divinity,  on  biblical  theology;  and  as 
warden  of  Canterbury  Hall,  on  scholastic  divinity.  He 
achieved  distinction  in  the  leading  university  of  his  age 
as  a  scholar  and  teacher.  His  fame  went  for  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  classic  town.  It  was  reported  abroad, 
and  correctly,  that  he  was  learned  in  the  arts  of  grammar, 
rhetoric  and  logic,  called   the  Trivium  ;  in    arithmetic, 


36  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

geometry,  astronomy  and  music,  called  the  Quadrivium  : 
and  was  familiar  with  biblical  theology  and  the  canon 
law.  Students  flocked  to  him  at  Oxford  from  all  parts 
of  England,  and  he  well  deserved  the  designation  which 
Roger  Bacon  had  won,  the  Doctor  Mirahilis.  In  1361 
he  was  made  rector  of  Fillingham,  a  small  parish  in  the 
county  of  Lincoln,  but  seems  to  have  continued  his  resi- 
dence in  Oxford,  assigning  the  larger  part  of  his  pastoral 
duties  to  a  curate,  yet  relinquishing  the  mastership  of 
Baliol. 

Wyclif  became  conspicuous  during  this  period  in  con- 
nection with  a  question  of  political  right  involving  the 
relations  of  Church  and  State.  His  versatile  mind  could 
not  be  confined  to  a  narrow  field.  He  was  a  patriot 
whilst  he  was  a  Christian.  He  was  especially  interested 
in  a  question  of  church  authority  which  infringed  upon 
prerogatives  of  the  throne.  He  seems  to  have  been  a 
member  of  the  Parliament  of  1361,  which  was  occupied 
with  the  papal  claim  to  feudatory  tribute.  In  the  pre- 
vious year  Pope  Urban  V.  complained  to  Edward  III. 
that  for  a  third  of  a  century  the  Crown  had  failed  to  pay, 
in  accordance  with  the  pledge  of  John,  the  reigning 
sovereign,  the  sum  of  one  thousand  marks  annually  as 
a  rightful  tribute  to  the  Roman  See.  In  his  authority 
as  feudal  superior  he  demanded  payment.  The  king 
referred  the  claim  to  Parliament.  It  embraced  a  ques- 
tion of  grave  significance.  Shall  England  bow  in  abject 
submission  to  such  a  domination  as  this  claim  involves, 
or  reject  it  on  pain  of  pontifical  judgments?  Wyclif 
seems  to  have  come  to  the  front  in  the  discussion  and 
settlement  of  this  question.  It  was  decided  that  John 
had  transcended  his  prerogatives,  that  the  principle  of 


WYCLIF.  37 

feudatory  superiority  residing  in  the  pope  was  vicious, 
that  the  people  were  absolved  from  the  payment  of  the 
feudal  tribute,  and  that  the  claim  would  be  resisted  by 
the  whole  power  of  the  English  realm.  The  pope 
cowered  before  this  expression  of  righteous  indignation, 
and  the  papal  assumption  yielded  to  the  dignity  of  the 
Crown.  In  this  action  Wyclif  has  taken  issue  with  the 
Roman  Church,  for  his  hand  is  evidently  in  it,  and  the 
warden  of  Canterbury  Hall  shall  suffer  for  his  temerity. 
His  attitude  toward  the  claim  of  Urban  V.  may  have 
suggested  Wyclif 's  appointment  as  a  royal  commissary 
to  Bruges  in  1374  to  bear  part  in  a  discussion  respecting 
the  relations  of  the  pope  to  English  church  officers  and 
the  rights  of  cathedral  chapters,  and  various  infringe- 
ments upon  the  liberty  of  the  Church.  The  king 
reposed  confidence  in  the  judgment  and  loyalty  of  the 
Oxford  professor,  and  the  people  at  large  recognized  the 
potency  of  his  influence  in  questions  touching  the  honor 
of  the  realm.  The  teacher  of  biblical  theology  is  famil- 
iar with  political  theology.  Is  versed  in  political  affairs 
and  is  fitted  to  represent  the  kingdom  in  diplomatic 
conferences  with  the  nuncios  of  the  pope.  This  em- 
bassage introduced  Wyclif  to  the  leading  city  of  Flan- 
ders. It  was  the  first  time  he  had  crossed  the  English 
Channel.  Bruges  was  a  great  and  busy  town,  distin- 
guished for  the  scope  of  its  industries,  the  weight  of 
Its  political  influence,  the  opulence  of  its  burghers  and 
the  luxury  of  its  life.  But  the  corruption  of  the  Church 
must  have  made  a  still  profounder  impression  upon  this 
observant  stranger.  It  was  an  experience  similar  to 
Luther's  when  he  went  from  his  secluded  home  in 
Saxony  to  Rome,  the  seat  of  papal  jurisdiction.     It  had 


88  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

soraetliiiig  to  do  Avith  Wyclif  s  subsequent  relations  to 
the  hierarcliy  that  fostered  iniquity  and  hurled  anath- 
emas upon  those  who  disputed  its  power.  Wyclif  ^s  course 
as  commissary  did  not  commend  him  to  the  Italian 
diplomats  or  to  pontifical  favor,  nor  did  the  results 
of  the  conference  materially  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  But  this  did  not  terminate  the  pro- 
test against  papal  encroachments  upon  the  rights  of  the 
English  cathedrals,  the  promotion  through  bribery  of 
incompetent  foreigners,  the  discriminations  in  favor  of 
the  latter  in  the  apportionment  of  salaries  and  the  sac- 
rificing of  the  sacred  interests  of  the  Church  to  the 
avarice  which  bought  the  favor  of  Rome.  The  dis- 
affection extended,  and  in  1376  the  Good  Parliament 
voiced  the  public  dissatisfaction  in  tones  that  awakened 
the  papal  court  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation.  Wyclif 
was  a  member  of  the  Parliament.  He  championed  the 
rights  of  the  national  Church  in  opposition  to  the  in- 
fringements of  the  papal  throne,  and  grew  more  promi- 
nent as  the  controversy  advanced. 

Soon  after  this  he  received  a  summons  to  appear  be- 
fore the  clerical  convocation  which  was  to  meet  in  Lon- 
don. On  Thursday,  Feb.  19,  1377,  the  convocation  as- 
sembled in  the  street  and  obstructed  the  entrance  to  the 
great  cathedral.  At  length  Wyclif  appeared  on  the 
slope  of  Ludgate  Hill,  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
imposing  procession.  The  duke  of  Lancaster,  his  friend, 
walked  at  his  side.  Behind  him  were  armed  custodians 
wearing  helmets  and  swords.  Following  these  were 
mendicant  monks  and  a  goodly  company  friendly  to  the 
Oxford  ])reachcr.  They  found  their  way  with  difficulty 
through   the  jostling  multitude,  and  at  last  reached  the 


wrcLiF.  39 

chapel,  where  the  dignified  bishop,  with  dukes  and 
barons,  awaited  his  coming.  Wyclif  stood  in  the  im- 
posing court,  a  thoughtful  man,  slender  in  person,  much 
above  the  medium  stature,  clad  in  a  black  gown  which 
reached  to  the  floor,  and  wearing  a  heavy  beard,  full  and 
long,  imparting  strength  to  a  face  which  betokened  the 
profound  student,  the  unswerving  patriot  and  the  devout 
Christian — a  heroic  man  who  could  die  for  ti^e  truth,  but 
would  not  deny  it,  his  calm  searching  eyes  fixed  on  the 
bisliop  of  London,  who  scowled  scornfully  upon  the 
culprit  at  his  bar.  Then  followed  a  scene  of  conflict 
between  the  court  and  some  of  the  Reformer's  friends, 
in  which  Wyclif  bore  no  part.  The  duke  of  Lancaster 
was  especially  violent  in  his  address  to  the  bishop,  and 
the  latter  replied  in  terms  quite  unbefitting  his  high 
office.  The  report  of  the  personal  conflict  circulated  on  the 
streets,  raising  a  popular  indignation  in  which  one  party 
was  arrayed  against  another,  each  threatening  to  resort 
to  deeds  of  violence.  Wild  commotion  prevailed  until  the 
princess  of  Wales  interposed  and  secured  peace.  Mean- 
while, attention  was  diverted  from  Wyclif;  the  court 
had  adjourned,  and  the  result  suggests  a  familiar  line  in 
the  chief  of  Latin  poets :  '^  Farturiunt  montes,  nascetur 
ridiculus  mus.''  Three  months  after  this  failure  of  the 
convocation  to  arrest  the  work  of  Wyclif  (May  22,  1377) 
Gregory  XL,  persuaded  of  his  power  to  do  what  the 
English  bishops  did  not  accomplish,  in  the  splendid 
cathedral  of  San  Maria  Maggiore  at  Rome  issued  five 
bulls  against  the  Reformer,  directing  the  imprisonment 
of  Wyclif  in  case  it  should  be  established  that  he  \\*as 
the  author  of  certain  theses  which  disputed  rights,  secu- 
lar and  spiritual,  inherent  in  the  Church  of  Rome.    This 


40  ROMANISM  AND   THE  BEFORMERS. 

procedure  was  probably  instigated  by  the  English 
bishops,  who  had  wrought  with  marvelous  cunning  a 
net  in  which  they  hoped  to  entrap  Wyclif  and  suddenly 
terminate  his  power.  That  he  was  advancing  in  popu- 
lar favor  was  apparent,  and  the  strong  arm  of  the  pon- 
tifical throne  must  arrest  a  career  which  portended  only 
evil  to  the  apostolic  Church.  But  Gregory  failed  in  his 
purpose.  England  sympathized  with  Wyclif  rather  than 
with  the  successor  to  St.  Peter,  and  the  bulls  fell  harm- 
less to  the  ground. 

Thereafter,  Wyclif  devoted  himself  to  a  work  that  was 
more  spiritual.  He  did  not  crave  distinction  as  a  patriot 
nor  as  a  political  reformer,  so  much  as  he  desired  to  help 
rel(!ase  the  Church  from  the  domination  of  the  papal 
hierarchy  and  spread  abroad  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 
He  now  appears  as  a  spiritual  teacher,  traveling  the  world's 
wilderness,  predicting  a  better  day  and  leading  toward  it 
— a  day  whose  faint  gleam  fell  on  his  path,  and  was 
granted  to  others  also  through  his  agency,  but  only 
when,  released  from  the  blinding  influence  of  error,  they 
looked  adoringly  at  the  greatest  sight  that  has  ever 
greeted  mortal  eyes — "  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world.'' 

We  are  now  to  study  the  life  of  Wyclif  in  Its  more 
direct  relations  to  Bible  truth  hi  opposition  to  the  false 
teachings  of  Rome.  The  Oxford  professor  grew  more 
conspicuous  as  a  Reformer,  advancing  beyond  the  super- 
stitious beliefs  of  early  years,  and  modifying,  if  he  did 
not  wholly  renounce,  the  grosser  errors  of  the  papal 
Church.  He  came  by  gradual  steps  and  a  deliberate 
ascent  from  a  realm  wrapped  with  mist  to  the  high  table- 


WYCLIF.  41 

lands  of  revelation,  where  the  light  was  clearer  and  the 
air  relieved  of  its  spiritual  chill. 

As  the  years  advanced  he  manifested  a  growing  dispo- 
sition to  part  company  with  the  papal  hierarchy,  though 
he  never  entirely  broke  his  connection  with  the  Romish 
Church.  He  refused  to  recognize  the  right  of  the 
Roman  pontiff  to  exercise  authority  over  the  universal 
Church,  although  he  had  previously  consented  to  it  as  a 
temporary  expedient.  But  in  1378,  when  dissensions 
arose  in  the  Church,  and  the  French  cardinals,  assembled 
at  Fondi,  elected  a  pope  of  their  own,  violently  opposing 
the  successor  of  Gregory  XI.  and  his  adherents,  he  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  both  Urban  YI.  and  Clement 
VI I.  were  false  popes.  They  were  apostates  and  limbs 
of  the  devil,  instead  of  members  of  the  body  of  Christ. 
How,  then,  could  either  of  them  rightfully  claim  to  be 
the  successor  of  St.  Peter  or  the  vicegerent  of  the  as- 
cended Lord?  He  denounced  the  hierarchy  as  an  in- 
stitution of  the  Wicked  One,  and  he  longed  for  its 
extinction.  This  was  a  pivotal  point  in  the  life  of  the 
Reformer. 

From  opposition  to  the  papacy  he  passed  to  a  renun- 
ciation of  some  of  its  essential  dogmas.  He  had  long 
given  earnest  thought  to  the  church  doctrine  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  At  length  he  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  unscriptural  and  to  be  rejected.  He  insisted 
that  the  consecrated  host  on  the  altar  was  neither  Christ 
nor  any  part  of  him.  This  was  a  rejection  of  transub- 
stantiation.  It  was  a  bold  step,  but  he  did  not  hesitate 
to  take  it.  It  was  not  done  without  earnest  and  prolonged 
consideration,  and,  having  taken  it,  he  maintained  his 
advanced   position.      He  was   not   moved   by  impulse. 


42  ROMANISM  AND    THE  REFORMERS. 

and  Ik;  could  uot  be  intimidated  by  threats.  The  storm 
of  indignation  his  theses  against  the  accepted  doctrine 
raised  in  Oxford,  the  condemnation  of  his  heresy  by  a 
council  of  doctors  of  theology  and  mendicant  monks, 
and  the  mandate  prohibiting  the  teaching  of  so  funda- 
mental an  error  on  pain  of  excommunication  and  im- 
prisonment, did  not  move  him,  and  although  his  mouth 
was  closed  his  pen  sent  forth  vigorous  arguments  against 
transubstantiation,  and  their  circulation  was  more  widely 
extended  than  if  he  had  simply  maintained  them  within 
the  walls  of  the  university.  It  does  not  appear  from 
any  of  Wyclif's  writings  or  from  the  teachings  of  the 
Church  that  the  withholding  of  the  cup  from  the  laity 
had  as  yet  received  ecclesiastical  approval,  nor  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  as  a  satisfaction  for 
sin  had  been  incorporated  in  the  Romish  creed.  Hence 
his  attack  was  made  upon  the  first  of  the  trinity  of 
errors  which  subsequently  corrupted  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.  He  insisted  that  transubstantiation, 
an  ''  accident  without  a  substance,  was  neither  taught  in 
the  word  of  God  nor  supported  by  tradition,"  and  that 
for  the  memorial  feast  instituted  by  Christ  there  was 
substituted  the  ''  abomination  of  desolation."  Transub- 
stantiation was  contrary  to  all  analogy  of  speech  and  to 
reason.  When  Christ  said  at  the  Supper,  "  This  is  my 
body,"  a  literal  meaning  was  no  more  intended  than 
when  he  said,  ^'  I  am  the  vine"  or  "I  am  the  door." 
It  was  blasphemous  also  to  hold  that  a  priest  by  a  silent 
signal  of  his  will  could  convert  the  wafer  into  the  actual 
body  of  our  Lord,  and  to  believe  it  involved  the  sin  of 
idolatry. 

In  all  this,  though  there  is  somewhat  of  indefiniteness 


WYCLTF.  4e3 

in  his  teachings,  Wyclif  stands  prominently  forth  as  the 
advocate  of  a  divinely-instituted  and  spiritual  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Supper.  He  seems  to  have  held  a  more 
scriptural  view  of  this  ordinance  than  did  Martin  Luther 
or  John  Calvin,  approaching  the  theory  taught  by 
Zvvingle,  but  more  nearly  in  accord  with  the  belief  now 
generally  held  by  Protestant  Christendom.  The  Lol- 
lards accepted  his  interpretation  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and,  largely  through  their  influence,  it  was  continued 
during  succeeding  generations.  It  is  not  regarded  as 
absolute  truth,  but  a  near  approximation  to  it,  which 
prepared  the  way  for  the  elimination  of  the  grave  errors 
which  had  deformed  the  sacrament  and  opened  the  door 
to  the  holy  place  of  communion  with  Christ  and  his 
elect. 

As  a  lecturer  on  divinity  in  the  university  at  Oxford 
Wyclif  had  attracted  much  attention.  By  many  he  was 
heard  with  mild  approval,  whilst  some  esteemed  him  an 
oracle  whose  words  it  were  folly  to  gainsay  and  wicked 
to  deny.  He  insisted  that  in  the  determination  of  truth 
there  must  be  a  ground  of  ultimate  and  unmistakable 
appeal.  He  did  not  repudiate  reason,  but  held  that  it 
alone  could  not  discover  truth.  The  light  of  nature  has 
its  place,  and  he  would  accept  its  helpful  offices,  but  the 
word  of  God  is  the  final  and  infallible  basis  of  belief. 
"Thus  it  is  written."  He  sought  to  be  a  biblical 
preacher.  He  listened  to  the  divine  voice,  and  followed 
where  it  led.  He  reported  his  own  convictions,  return- 
ing from  the  wide  fields  of  revelation  as  he  had  been  able 
to  explore  them,  laden  with  the  fruits  of  pious  research 
as  were  the  spies  with  the  fruits  of  Canaan. 

Although  he  was  unacquainted  with  the  original  Ian- 


44  ROMA y ISM  AND    THE  REFORMERS. 

giiages  of  the  Old  aud  New  Testaments,  he  excelled  Id 
his  knowledge  of  the  Latin  tongue  and  was  familiar  with 
the  Scriptures  as  rendered  in  the  Vulgate.  In  the  uni- 
versity his  preaching  was  adapted  to  the  minds  he  ad- 
dressed and  was  in  the  language  with  which  scholars  were 
acquainted.  But  Latin  sermons  were  unintelligible  to 
the  greater  multitude  beyond  the  walls  of  the  university. 
Ijutterworth  was  at  a  far  remove  from  Oxford,  though 
in  geographical  miles  near  by,  and  his  humble  parish 
w^as  the  representative  of  widespread  and  urgent  need. 
The  doctor  whom  the  learned  esteemed  great  conde- 
scended in  order  that  he  might  be  useful,  preaching  in 
simple  terms,  in  self- forgetful ness,  supporting  every 
statement  of  truth  by  the  word  of  God,  which  abideth 
for  ever. 

He  expressed  his  opposition  to  a  style  of  public  dis- 
course, prevalent  in  his  day,  which  in  some  of  its  fea- 
tures is  not  wholly  unknown  in  our  time.  It  has  been 
said  of  some  preachers  in  the  nineteenth  century  that  they 
go  to  the  Bible  for  their  texts  and  to  Seneca  or  Herbert 
Spencer  for  their  sermons.  Speculative  philosophy 
furnishes  the  staple  to  many  homilies,  or  illustrations 
drawn  from  natural  sciences  and  obsolete  history  obscure 
for  the  popular  mind  the  truth  its  need  demands.  In 
other  instances  the  dignity  of  the  pulpit  is  sacrificed  to  a 
low  taste,  and  men  commissioned  to  preach  the  gospel 
with  a  seriousness  begotten  of  a  sense  of  responsibility 
to  God  and  of  the  momentous  interests  involved,  play 
the  buffoon  before  a  gaping  crowd,  whilst  souls  perish 
and  Heaven  weeps.  But  this,  which  is  exceptional  in 
our  age,  was  common  in  Wyclif 's  day.  Against  such  a 
prostitution  of  the  sacred   office  he  entered  his  solemn 


WYCLIF.  45 

protest.     Old  wives'  fables,  silly  traditious,  stories  about 
the  saints  and  the  miracles  they  wrought,  incidents  ex- 
tracted from  the  story- writers  which  were  as  puerile  as 
misleading,  with  an  occasional  recourse  to  the  myths  of 
heathen  creation, — these  occupied  the  hour  designated  for 
pulpit  instruction.     The  benches  were  filled,  the  treasury 
was  enriched,  the  people  applauded  and  the  preacher  was 
content.     The  earnest,  spiritual  preaching  of  the  word, 
accompanied  with  the  unction  born  of  conniiunion  with 
God ;  the  preaching  that  recognized  man's  sinful  and  help- 
less condition,  a  death  in  trespasses  and  in  sins,  with  a  sol- 
emn intimation  of  that  doom  wdiich  for  those  who  perish 
shall  sweep  the  endless  years;  the  preaching  which  con- 
formed in  large  measure  to  that  of  Christ,  who  came  to  save 
the  lost,  and  held  all  truth  aifectionately  yet  impressively 
on  the  border-line  of  eternity,—  such  preaching  would, 
for  a  time  at  least,  terminate  the  popularity  of  the  pulpit 
and  empty  the  pews.     But  Wyclif  believed  it  was  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  that  the  preacher  was 
recreant  to  his  trust  and  would  carry  the  blood  of  souls 
in  his  skirts  to  the  bar  of  God  unless  he  preached  the 
preaching  the  Master  had  bidden  him.     Wyclif  sought 
to  reform  the  pulpit.     His  own  idea  may  not  have  been 
wholly  scriptural,  but  it  made  a  long  advance  toward  it, 
and  the  result  was  an  ultimate  benediction  to  England. 
He  rejected  an  unintelligible  scholasticism  on  the  one  side 
and  a  foolish  charlatanism  on  the  other.     He  put  little 
dependence  on  the  graces  of  oratory  and  the  refinements 
of  rhetoric,  but  desired  to  go  in  humble  speech  to  the 
sources  of  saving  truth,  baptized  with  the  power  which 
comes  from  God  and  conducts  to  him.    The  Reformation 
must  begin  in  the  pulpit.     He  put  his  convictions  into 


46  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

the  concrete  form  of  a  personal  example.  The  rector  of 
Lutterworth,  pale  and  thoughtful,  himself  an  inquirer 
after  truth,  satisfied  there  was  something  better  for  him 
and  his  hearers  a  little  farther  on,  drew  his  inspiration 
from  the  Sacred  Scriptures  and  sought  to  impart  a  spir- 
itual knowledge  to  souls  that  w^ould  die  eternally  without 
it.  His  own  declaration  was  that  "  in  every  proclama- 
tion of  the  gospel  the  true  teacher  must  address  himself 
to  the  heart,  so  as  to  flash  the  light  into  the  spirit  of  the 
hearer  and  to  bend  his  will  into  obedience  to  the 
truth." 

It  is  claimed  by  some  that  Wyclif  never  attained  to  a 
full  comprehension  of  the  gospel,  though  he  was  in  ad- 
vance of  his  age.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  Aristo- 
telian philosophy,  w^hich  exalted  human  works  and 
diverted  the  Romish  Church  from  the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone,  had  ob- 
scured his  views  of  the  cross.  But  there  is  reason  to 
conclude  from  his  writings,  in  which  he  magnifies  the 
work  of  Christ,  that  he  not  only  possessed  that  docility 
which  is  a  preparation  for  the  revelations  of  Calvary, 
but  that  he  had  actually  gone  to  its  rocky  summit  and 
taken  his  outlook  of  heaven  from  thence.  He  did  not 
see  as  clearly  as  did  Luther,  nor  did  he  formulate  his 
faith  as  definitely  as  did  Calvin,  but  he  saw  the  outlines 
of  truth  in  the  gray  dawn,  and  helped  his  successors  to 
a  clearer  apprehension  of  the  Christian  system  than  he 
himself  had  acquired.  His  modes  of  expression  were 
not  those  of  modern  theology.  Yet  his  apprehensions 
of  truth  were  substantially  those  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. His  Christology  maintained  the  incomparable 
glory  of  the  Messiah,  the  '^Caesar  always  Augustus,"  the 


WYCLIF.  47 

One  altogether  lovely,  the  only  Mediator  between  God 
and  men,  and  a  mighty  Conqueror  whose  steps  are 
Titanic,  a  greater  than  Alexander,  the  like  of  whom  had 
never  crossed  the  track  of  the  ages.  Some  of  his  ex- 
pressions, epigrammatic  and  fragrant  with  the  grace  of 
Christ,  are  repeated  to-day  by  many  who  have  never 
learned  their  origin,  and  the  roots  of  some  of  our 
choicest  sacred  lyrics  are  found  in  the  pulpit  of  Lutter- 
worth, of  which  we  may  instance  one  :  "  This  I  suffer 
for  thee ;  what  dost  thou  suffer  for  me  T^ 

There  seems  at  times  a  cold  severity  in  Wyclif 's  pres- 
entation of  truth.  His  denunciations  of  the  corruptions 
of  the  Church  were  often  fearful  and  calculated  to  arouse 
bitter  antagonism  to  his  work  of  reform.  But  we  should 
not  judge  the  fourteenth  century  in  the  light  of  the  nine- 
teenth. The  former  was  a  rude  age.  Rude  weapons 
and  heavy  blows  were  not  only  permitted,  but  required. 
Opposition  to  error  thundered  at  the  gates.  The  batter- 
ing-ram did  effective  service.  The  sleep  of  ages  could 
be  broken  only  by  the  shock  of  earthquakes.  The  age 
in  which  the  still  small  voice  would  prove  more  effective 
had  not  come.  Even  John  Knox  did  not  live  to  see  it. 
Yet  the  preacher  of  Lutterworth  was  by  no  means  lack- 
ing in  that  tender  love  of  souls  and  that  profound  sympa- 
thy with  a  misguided  people  which  must  ever  be  the  chief 
elements  of  pulpit  power.  There  is  great  sweetness  in 
his  portrayals  of  Christ  in  the  offices  of  prophet,  priest 
and  king.  There  were  the  breathings  of  a  brother's 
affection  in  his  endeavors  to  direct  the  attention  of  the 
hungry  and  athirst  to  Him  in  whom  all  fullness  dwells. 
His  work,  it  is  admitted,  was  largely  that  of  a  destruc- 
tionist,  and  it  was  reserved  for  others  to  build  on  fourda- 


48  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

tloiis  relieved  of  superstructures  that  were  false  and 
dangerous.  But  this  was  not  his  exclusive  mission.  He 
declared  the  truth;  he  exalted  the  word  of  God.  To 
tradition  he  assigned  an  inferior  place.  The  decrees  of 
councils  were  of  no  authority  if  they  were  in  conflict 
with  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures.  The  consensus  of 
Christendom  deserved  attention,  but  was  to  be  received 
with  caution.  The  Bible  was  the  sufficient  guide  of 
conduct,  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith.  The  "  Mixtim 
theology "  followed  an  ignis  fatuus,  and  its  teachers 
were  blind  leaders  of  the  blind.  Wyclif  sought  to 
preach  an  unadulterated  gospel,  and  that  he  might  an- 
swer each  inquiry  after  truth  he  compared  scripture  with 
scripture  and  maintained  the  attitude  of  devout  disciple- 
ship  in  the  school  of  Christ  that  he  might  instruct  oth- 
ers. Attention  should  be  called  to  Wyclif 's  extension 
of  the  truth  by  means  of  preaching  itinerants.  He  sent 
forth  a  class  of  men  fitted  to  teach  and  in  sympathy  with 
his  religious  views,  who  sought  to  influence  public  senti- 
ment in  the  interests  of  reform  and  to  conduct  the  peo- 
ple to  the  sources  of  saving  knowledge.  He  insisted 
that  they  should  not  preach  tales  of  saints  nor  descant 
about  Trojan  wars,  but  take  their  texts  from  the  Bible 
and  exalt  Christ  as  Mediator  and  Lawgiver.  These 
itinerants  with  unshod  feet,  clad  in  russet  gowns,  carry- 
ing staves,  disregarded  the  usual  conventionalities  of  the 
priesthood,  and  without  the  authority  of  the  Church 
preached  in  places  of  public  gathering,  in  chapels  that 
would  admit  them,  in  churchyards  and  wherever  they 
could  secure  audience.  Trained  for  their  work,  probably 
in  Oxford  at  the  first,  they  were  instructed  that  it  was 
their  office  and  duty  faithfully,  freely  and  truly  to  preach 


I 


WYCLIF.  49 

God's  word.  Their  influence  was  widely  felt.  Some 
of  them  were  men  of  marked  ability,  and  the  most  of 
them  were  exceptionally  devout.  But  they  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Wil- 
liam Courtenay,  who  in  the  exercise  of  his  episcopal  au- 
thorization commanded  them  to  desist  from  their  work. 
It  was  disorderly.  They  had  not  obtained  the  usual 
authority  to  teach,  which  could  be  given  only  by  the 
Church.  Besides,  it  was  reported  that  they  preached 
heretical  doctrines,  and  relaxed,  if  they  did  not  sever,  the 
ties  which  had  bound  the  people  to  the  papal  Church. 
The  air  of  piety  Avhich  was  a  marked  characteristic  of 
the  itinerants  commended  them  to  many,  and  their  enthu- 
siasm was  so  great  and  won  for  them  such  success  that 
it  was  said — with  exaggeration,  however — that  ^^  every 
second  man  in  England  was  a  Lollard.^'  The  pilgrim- 
preachers  journeyed  on,  repeating  refreshing  messages  to 
souls  that  had  long  fed  on  husks  and  bowed  at  the  nod  of 
the  papal  tiara  or  followed  the  beck  of  a  corrupt  priesthood 
into  the  desert  of  formalism.  This  system  of  itinerancy 
— which  had  been  previously  practiced  among  the  Wal- 
denses,  of  which  fact  the  Reformers  probably  had  no 
knowledge — was  renewed  four  centuries  later,  and  John 
Wyclif  again  appeared  in  the  person  and  work  of  John 
Wesley. 

The  men  whom  our  Reformer  educated  for  evangel- 
istic work  were  at  a  far  remove,  as  respects  the  subject- 
matter  of  their  preaching  and  the  spirit  which  prompted 
their  service,  from  the  monks  and  friars,  the  black  and 
gray,  who  were  numerous  as  the  leaves  of  Vallombrosa, 
— men  who  thronged  the  entrances  to  the  great  cathe- 
drals, and  surrounded  the  seats  of  political  power,  and 


50  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

frequented  the  purlieus  of  the  city  and  the  country 
roads.  As  a  class  they  were  corrupt,  and  corrupted  all 
whom  they  influenced.  Many  of  these,  though  clad  in 
garments  of  poverty,  accumulated  wealth,  and  others 
aspired  to  worldly  power  and  luxurious  living. 

Wyclif  sympathized  at  first  with  the  mendicant  monks 
in  distinction  from  the  old  endowed  orders,  and  vindica- 
ted their  habits  of  life  ;  and  this  he  did  for  many  years, 
although  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  that  he  stimu- 
lated or  favored  the  peasants'  insurrection,  which  these 
friars  supported.  But  when  he  came  to  know  them 
better,  and  especially  after  they  resisted  every  effort  to 
restore  a  pure  Christianity,  traded  in  indulgences  and 
absolutions  and  taught  that  almsgiving  might  be  a  sub- 
stitute for  spirituality,  he  turned  against  them  and  sought 
to  break  their  influence.  Of  them  he  humorously  said 
that  the  Scriptures  never  referred  to  them  except  in  the 
text,  "  I  know  you  not."  In  a  sickness  which  it  was 
supposed  would  terminate  fatally  a  monk  visited  him, 
hoping  to  secure  his  recantation,  but  Wyclif  promptly 
rose  in  his  bed  and  said,  "  I  shall  not  die,  but  live  to 
declare  the  works  of  the  -begging  friars." 

We  now  come  to  Wyclif 's  greatest  work,  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  thje  English  tongue. 
In  opposition  to  the  Church  of  Rome  he  believed  the 
Bible  should  be  circulated  among  the  people  in  their  own 
language.  God  had  not  intended  that  it  should  be  the 
possession  of  the  priesthood  only,  or  that  its  use  by  the 
laity  should  be  contingent  on  priestly  permission.  To  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  vernacular  of  the 
people  he  devoted  twenty  years  of  vigorous  life.  The 
Psalter  had  been  translated  into  the  Saxon  language  in 


WYCLIF.  61 

a  precediDg  century,  and  had  attained  a  limited  cir- 
culation. But  it  was  reserved  for  Wyclif  to  give  to  the 
people  the  word  of  God  in  its  entirety.  He  had  only 
the  Latin  Bible  of  Jerome.  Unacquainted  with  the 
original  languages,  he  could  have  received  no  aid  from 
manuscripts  to  which  he  may  have  had  no  access.  In 
his  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  he  was  assisted 
to  some  extent,  by  Nicholas  Hereford.  He  began  with 
the  Apocalypse,  his  favorite  study,  and  included  the 
Apocrypha  along  with  the  canonical  books.  At  length 
(in  1382)  the  work  was  completed.  The  translation 
was  not  all  that  he  desired,  and  he  entered  upon  a  revis- 
ion which  was  carried  on  by  John  Purvey  and  completed 
about  six  years  later.  The  printing-press  was  unknown, 
and  copies  were  made  by  the  slower  process  of  the  age. 
But  many  pens  were  employed,  and  the  multiplication 
of  the  word  of  God  was  hastened.  There  remain  one 
hundred  and  seventy  of  the  copies  of  Wyclif 's  transla- 
tion until  the  present.  0;ie  may  be  seen  in  the  Lenox 
Library  in  New  York.  The  flames  have  not  been  per- 
mitted to  consume  them  and  the  centuries  have  not 
obliterated  the  handwriting.  The  Bible  was  precious 
in  those  days.  It  required  nearly  two  hundred  dollars 
to  buy  a  single  copy.  It  was  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
poor,  except  as  they  had  access  to  the  house  of  the 
wealthy  or  families  united  in  its  purchase. 

The  Reformation  was  born  of  the  work  Wyclif 
accomplished.  It  was  then  the  Romish  Church  heard 
its  death-knell.  It  was  evident  that  the  circulation  of 
the  Scriptures  would  lead  to  the  exercise  of  private 
judgment,  and  private  judgment  would  destroy  the 
power  of  the  hierarchy.     It  was  the   Vulgate   indeed 


52  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

which  had  been  rendered  into  the  language  of  the 
English  people,  and  the  Vulgate  was  the  accepted 
translation  of  the  Church.  But  it  was  for  the  use  of 
the  priesthood  only,  and  by  them  it  was  to  be  inter- 
preted. Its  general  circulation  was  a  profanation  of 
the  Sacred  Oracles.  Knowledge  would  dig  the  grave 
of  Romish  devotion.  Hence  the  Church  summoned 
all  her  strength  to  put  an  end  to  the  threatening  evil. 
Knyton  reflected  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the  papacy 
when  he  thus  discoursed  concerning  the  Bible :  "  This 
Master  John  Wyclif  translated  it  out  of  Latin  into  the 
Anglican,  not  the  angelic  tongue,  and  thus  laid  it  more 
open  to  the  laity  and  to  women  who  could  read  than  it 
had  formerly  been  to  the  most  learned  of  the  clergy,  or 
even  to  those  of  them  that  had  the  best  understanding. 
And  in  this  way  the  gospel  pearl  is  cast  abroad  and 
trodden  under  foot  of  swine;  that  which  was  before 
precious  both  to  clergy  and  laity  is  rendered  as  it  were 
the  common  jest  of  both.  The  jewel  of  the  Church  i.< 
turned  into  the  common  sport  of  the  people,  and  what 
was  hitherto  the  principal  gift  of  the  clergy  and  divines 
is  made  for  ever  common  to  the  laity."  So  said  all  who 
were  loyal  to  the  Roman  See  and  had  incorporated  papal 
corruptions  with  their  life's  blood. 

The  leading  ecclesiastics  assembled  at  St.  Paul's 
church,  London,  in  1408,  and  pronounced  the  reading 
of  Wyclif 's  translation  a  heresy  punishable  by  excom- 
munication, imprisonment,  death.  At  once  the  air 
seemed  filled  with  anathemas  ;  prison-doors  swung  on 
their  hinges  and  fagots  were  gathered  for  the  burning. 
Wyclif  and  the  Lollards  might  cry  out  against  the 
vices  of  the  clergy  and  the  sins  of  the  people,  but  let 


WYCLIF.  53 

Lim  that  circulates  or  reads  in  his  own  toDgue  the  word 
of  God  be  accursed.  Rome  dreaded  the  Bible  as  night 
the  rising  sun.  Rome  dreads  it  now.  The  priest  may 
still  read  extracts  from  the  word,  and  interpret  them  to 
the  people,  but  a  complete  Bible  would  smite  the  throne 
of  the  papacy  and  break  the  bands  of  ignorance  asunder. 
In  this  the  animus  of  the  papacy  is  seen.  It  has  not 
changed  with  the  passage  of  the  centuries.  The  Bible- 
house  stands  to-day  on  the  Corso  in  Rome,  but  the  pope, 
if  it  were  in  his  power,  would  bury  it  deeper  than  the 
Catacombs,  and  the  Church  would  sing  a  Te  Deum  over 
its  grave.  It  is  true  the  Bible  circulates  to  some  extent 
m  Italy,  throughout  papal  Europe  and  goes  abroad 
over  the  earth  speaking  in  the  tongues  of  all  the 
nations,  but  the  Church  of  Rome,  if  it  were  possible, 
would  terminate  this  contact  of  the  truth  with  popular 
thought  and  inquiry  for  ever.  The  reasons  are  obvi- 
ous :  Rome  loves  darkness  rather  than  light,  because 
her  deeds  are  evil. 

Wyclif's  translation  inaugurated  a  new  era  in  the 
land  of  the  Saxons.  It  opened  visions  of  the  past,  and 
mind  communed  with  mind  separated  by  ages.  Again 
the  father  of  the  faithful  pitches  his  tent  on  the  plains 
of  Mamre,  and  redeemed  Israel  travels  the  paths  of  the 
wilderness  beyond  the  cloven  sea.  Again  David  sings 
his  now  plaintive,  now  joyous  psalms,  and  his  royal  son 
puts  into  flowing  numbers,  enriched  with  imagery  warm 
and  bright  as  the  overarching  Orient,  his  estimate  of  the 
Beloved.  Again  Isaiah  goes  to  the  hill-top  of  inspira- 
tion with  his  face  toward  the  east,  and,  catching  a  faint 
gleam  of  the  dawn,  utters  seraphic  prophecies  concern- 
ing the  Child,  the  Son,  whose  name  is  Wonderful,  the 


54  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace;  and  Micah, 
when  the  son  of  Amos  is  asleep  with  his  fathers,  climbs 
the  same  summit  and  points  to  Bethlehem  hard  by  the 
wood  of  Ephratah,  and  lo !  He  is  born  for  whom  the 
Church  had  waited  through  four  thousand  years.  Nay, 
more  than  that :  Wyclif 's  Bible  brought  the  historic 
Christ  to  view — the  true  Bishop  of  souls,  the  only 
Pontiff  of  the  Church,  the  world's  only  Saviour ;  and 
He  whom  Rome  had  hidden  or  misrepresented  walks 
abroad  among  men,  thorn-crowned  and  nail-pierced,  yet 
living  who  was  dead,  unbounded  love  in  his  heart,  for- 
giveness in  his  speech,  benedictions  on  his  lips,  pointing 
the  weary  and  sin-burdened  and  homesick  to  a  land  of 
rest  and  beauty  not  afar  off.  Well  did  Wyclif  say,  "  To 
be  ignorant  of  the  Scriptures  is  to  be  ignorant  of  Christ.'^ 
Ah,  we  who  have  our  Bible  in  church  and  home  and 
closet,  speaking  whenever  we  will  listen,  bringing  light 
and  comfort,  inspiring  hope  and  revealing  heaven,  can 
form  but  a  poor  conception  of  what  Wyclif 's  Bible  was 
to  the  few  who  gained  access  to  it. 

Then,  as  has  been  often  suggested,  Wyclif 's  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  greatly  elevated  English  literature, 
and  its  fruitage  has  been  gathered  in  the  wide  world  of 
letters  from  his  day  to  ours.  It  was  to  England  what 
Luther's  Bible  was  to  Germany,  and  stands  at  the  head 
of  the  "  Middle  English ;"  and  it  is  the  grateful  admis- 
sion of  the  nineteenth  century  ^'  that  if  Chaucer  is  the 
father  of  our  Later-English  poetry,  Wyclif  is  the  father 
of  our  Later-English  prose."  One  of  the  silver-tongued 
orators  of  the  New  World  is  in  full  accord  with  the 
German  biographers  when,  referring  to  Wyclif 's  Bible, 
which,  although  circumscribed  in  its  immediate  influence. 


WYCLIF,  55 

was  born  in  England  to  stay,  he  says  :  "  There  was  the 
English  Renaissance.  Leighton  and  Owen  and  Jeremy 
Taylor  became  possible  afterward — Bacon  and  Hooker, 
Shakespeare  and  Milton,  Dry  den  and  Wordsworth,  and 
Robert  Burns.  The  world  of  letters  had  found  a  lan- 
guage for  the  magnetic  periods  of  Burke,  for  Addison's 
and  Macaulay's  prose,  for  Gibbon's  sentences,  moving  as 
with  the  tread  of  an  imperial  triumph." 

Now  Wyclif's  work  is  done.  He  did  not  fear  mar- 
tyrdom. For  righteousness'  sake  he  would  have  embraced 
it  joyfully.  But  he  died  in  his  bed  on  the  31st  of 
December,  1384,  and  his  remains  were  reverently  laid 
near  the  Lutterworth  pulpit,  but  not  to  rest  in  peace. 
Thirty  years  later,  in  1415,  the  Council  of  Constance, 
which  condemned  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague 
and  burnt  them  outside  the  city-gate,  ordered  Wyclif 's 
books  to  be  destroyed  and  his  bones  to  be  exhumed  and 
burned.  Pope  Martin  V.  commanded  Fleming,  bishop 
of  Lincoln,  to  execute  the  decree,  and  it  was  done,  but 
not  until  1428.  The  harmless  bones  were  consumed 
and  the  ashes  were  thrown  into  the  Swift. 

"The  Avon  to  the  Severn  runs, 
The  Severn  to  the  sea, 
And  Wyclif  s  dust  shall  spread  abroad 
Wide  as  the  waters  be." 

The  influence  of  the  Oxford  scholar,  the  diligent  author 
and  the  faithful  pastor  of  Lutterworth,  whom  Milton 
styled  "  the  divine  and  admirable  Wyclif,"  has  reached 
far  as  the  sea  that  received  his  mortal  remains.  Out  of 
it  sprang  the  Reformation  in  Germany  and  the  jBvaugel 
that  sang  its  heaven-inspired  numbers  among  the  moun- 


56  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

tains  of  Switzerland.  The  East  received  its  light  from 
the  West,  the  continent  from  the  seagirt  isle,  and  a 
later  age  transmitted  it  to  lands  beyond  the  Atlantic. 
Some  may  insist  that  this  is  an  unwarranted  claim 
in  Wyclif's  behalf.  But  it  were  to  misread  history 
and  to  misinterpret  the  law  of  progress  in  the  spiritual 
kingdom  to  conclude  that  his  w^ork  died  with  him,  say- 
ing, as  did  Rome  when  his  bones  turned  to  ashes, 
"  That  is  the  end  of  him. '  The  immediate  results  of 
his  work  were  not  great.  The  light  along  the  hills  was 
faint  and  soon  obscured.  No  king  arose  to  maintain  the 
truth  by  the  might  and  influence  of  regal  power.  No 
potential  scholars  pleaded  in  its  behalf.  No  agencies, 
such  as  afterward  appeared,  multiplied  the  words  of  life 
and  repeated  them  in  every  home.  Wyclif  stood  well- 
nigh  alone.  He  was  a  solitary  star  shining  in  a  clouded 
sky.  Nevertheless,  his  w^ork  lived  after  him.  If  to 
some  it  seem  a  subterranean  potency,  unseen  and  unfelt, 
yet  even  they  admit  that  it  reappeared  in  a  deeper, 
broader  channel,  on  its  surface  the  gleam  of  heaven  and 
along  its  margin  the  trees  of  life.  The  old  university 
town  in  which  he  had  spent  the  most  of  his  life  nevei 
quite  escaped  the  influence  of  his  teachings.  Fathei 
told  the  story  of  his  life  to  their  sons.  The  bonfire 
which  consumed  the  volumes  his  laborious  pen  hac 
written  failed  to  destroy  all  the  products  of  his  busy 
brain  and  hand.  Even  the  Avon  as  it  sped  on  its  wayi 
helped  to  keep  his  memory  in  the  hearts  of  men,  andj 
the  Severn  sang  it  to  those  who  passed  by.  The  Bible 
in  England's  vernacular  lived  on.  The  voices  of  St. 
Paul's  .church  which  condemned  it  were  as  impotent  asi 
the  decrees  which  issued  from  the   Dominican  convent 


WYCLIF.  57 

near  by.  The  Lollards  carried  it  under  their  rough 
mantles,  and  read  it  beside  hearthstones  and  under  the 
trees.  The  sheen  of  a  better  day  grew  along  the  horizon. 
It  crossed  the  Channel  and  reached  even  to  the  valleys 
of  Bohemia.  The  priest  of  Prague  in  the  scholastic 
centre  of  Europe  saw  it,  and  in  its  light  spelled  out  the 
story  of  the  cross.  The  Wittenberg  monk  caught  the 
gleam  from  afar.  God  was  not  in  haste.  The  vision 
tarried,  and  the  world  waited  for  it.  It  came  at  the 
appointed  time,  and  did  not  tarry.  Instead  of  the  night 
was  the  morning,  and  in  these  last  times  the  day  is 
traveling  gloriously  on. 

Wyclif  was  truly  great.  We  owe  more  to  him  than 
most  of  us  have  supposed.  We  are  occupied  with  the  wealth 
of  thought  and  blessing  which  flows  like  a  river  through 
our  lives,  and  forget  too  often  its  source,  under  God, 
in  the  study  of  the  Oxford  professor  and  the  rectory  of 
Lutterworth.  The  ^' grand  old  man,  the  illustrious 
pioneer  of  Reform  in  England,"  who  stands  out  to  the 
view  of  posterity  in  "  solitary  and  mysterious  loneliness," 
is  a  Mount  Ararat  on  the  pathway  of  the  ages,  the  first 
to  catch  the  pencilings  of  light  which  betokened  the  day. 
He  was  in  advance  of  his  age.  He  saw  the  summits  of 
oncoming  events  which  men  of  lower  intellect  never  saw. 
lu  drastic  speech  Milton  asseverated  that  "  if  the  stiif- 
uecked  obstinacy  of  our  prelates  had  not  obstructed 
AV^yclif 's  sublime  and  exalted  spirit,  the  names  of  the 
Bohemian  Huss  and  Hieronymus,  and  even  of  Luther 
and  Calvin,  would  at  this  day  have  been  buried  in  ob- 
scurity, and  the  glory  of  having  reformed  our  neighbors 
would  have  been  ours  alone."  We  lay  our  grateful 
tribute  of  praise  at  his  feet,  and  thank  God  who  gave 


58  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS, 

him  to  these  latter  ages,  as  he  gave  Moses  to  Israel  and 
Paul  to  the  Gentile  world. 

History  gives  us  but  a  glimpse  of  the  spiritual  life  of 
the  mediaeval  doctor.  If  he  is  not  known  to  the 
Church  as  a  religious  genius,  like  some  who  lived  in 
cloisters  and  spent  their  days  in  devout  meditation,  yet 
he  may  have  held  quite  as  much  intercourse  with  Heaven. 
He  seems  to  have  been  exempt,  in  a  measure  quite  un- 
common, from  those  blemishes  of  character  which  have 
marred  the  memory  of  many  saints.  Some  of  his 
enemies  were  conspicuous  men  whose  words  have  lived 
until  now.  But  none  of  them  have  put  on  record  a  single 
sentence  which  questions  the  integrity  of  his  life.  They 
hated  the  heretic ;  they  paid  unwilling  homage  to  his 
personal  goodness.  He  was  born  in  a  Church  which 
carried  with  it  a  sepulchral  chill,  and  he  never  left  it. 
He  had  but  little  in  his  intercourse  with  the  ecclesiastics 
of  his  age  to  help  him  up  the  slopes  of  a  Christ-like  life. 
But  he  evidently  grew  in  holiness  amid  surroundings  so 
unfavorable,  as  some  plants  thrive  in  poor  soil  and  as 
pines  grow  tall  on  mountain-summits,  rocked  by  pass- 
ing storms.  To  maintain  a  blameless  life  and  escape 
defamation  in  such  an  age,  imperiling  his  life  in  the 
interest  of  truth,  marks  him  as  a  rare  witness  to  the 
power  of  divine  grace. 

In  a  missal  in  the  library  at  Prague,  Wyclif  is  repre- 
sented at  the  top  of  an  engraving  kindling  a  spark.  In 
the  centre  Huss  is  blowing  it  into  a  flame.  At  the  foot , 
Luther  is  waving  the  torch  aloft.  All  honor  to  the  Re- 
former who  prepared  the  way  for  the  Reformation,  aftei 
whom,  wearing  his  mantle,  came  Huss,  Jerome,  Savon- 
arola, Luihtr,  Calvin,  Cranmer  and  Knox,  completinj 


WYCLIF.  59 

the  work  the  lone  Englishman  began.  Thanks  be  to 
God  that  he  interrupted  the  long  night,  breathing  into 
the  ears  of  the  few  who  were  faithful  the  promise  of  bet- 
ter things,  when  Wyclif  appeared,  "  the  Morning  Star 
of  the  Keformation  "  1 


Si|V0Ni^R0L4. 


*•  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter  times 
some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing 
spirits,  and  doctri?ies  of  devils  ;  speakiiig  lies  in  hypocrisy  ; 
having  their  conscioice  seared  with  a  hot  iron  ;  forbiddi?ig  to 
marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain  froju  meats,  which  God 
hath  created  to  be  received  with  thanksgiving  of  them  which 
believe  a?id  know  the  truths 

I  Tim.  4.  1-3. 

"  The  purest  churches  7i7ider  heaven  are  subject  to  mixture 
and  error ;  and  some  have  so  degenerated,  as  to  becoine  no 
churches  of  Christ,  but  synagogues  of  Satan.  Nevertheless, 
there  shall  be  always  a  church  on  earth  to  worship  God 
according  to  his  will'' 

Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  xxv.  sec.  v. 


SAVONAROLA 


r^  OD  works  in  multiform  ways.  He  spake  at  sundry 
^  times  and  in  divers  manners  unto  the  fathers  by 
the  prophets,  leading  them  on  to  the  more  glorious  dis- 
pensation of  his  Son.  By  a  similar  process  he  accom- 
plished the  great  Reformation.  He  employed  agencies 
that  were  quite  unlike.  He  wrought  along  lines  which 
seemed  divergent.  But,  like  the  weaver  who  employs 
threads  of  different  colors  and  texture  and  follows  the 
flying  shuttle  with  the  crush  of  the  falling  beam,  and  at 
last  completes  the  fabrics  which  adorn  the  palaces  of 
kings,  so  God  by  various  means  and  seemingly  conflict- 
ing providences  restored  the  gospel  to  Europe  and  the 
adjacent  isles.  All  things  under  his  superintending 
providence  worked  together  for  the  consummation  of 
his  purpose  and  the  good  of  his  Church. 

Girolamo  Savonarola  possessed  the  spirit  of  John 
Wyclif  and  transferred  it  to  Martin  Luther.  But 
whilst  his  work  prepared  the  way  for  the  triumphs  of 
truth  in  a  later  generation,  he  represented  a  factor  in  the 
final  result  which  differentiated  his  work  from  that  of 
his  English  predecessor  and  the  greater  Reformer  of 
Germany.  He  did  not  oppose  the  Church,  but  he  set 
the  might  of  his  intellect,  the  fervor  of  his  eloquence 
and  the  integrity  of  his  life  against  every  form  of  sin. 
He  was  occupied  with  the  fruits  of  errors  rather  than 

63 


64  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

with  their  source.  Wyclif  opposed  false  doctrine  by 
the  word  of  God^  and,  coutinuiug  in  the  Church,  sought 
to  recover  truth.  Martin  Luther  attacked  both  error 
and  sin,  and  separated  himself  from  the  Church  which 
was  corrupt,  persuaded  that  reform  could  be  secui-ed 
from  without  and  never  from  within.  He  responded  to 
the  call  which  to  him  seemed  to  ring  out  over  the  plains 
of  Saxony  and  repeat  itself  through  the  Thuringian 
forests :  "  Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye 
separate,  saith  the  Lord.'' 

Some  are  slow  to  assign  Savonarola  a  place  among  the 
Reformers.  His  work  was  an  apparent  failure.  His 
life  was  like  to  the  northern  aurora  which  flashes  along 
the  arch  of  night,  then  drops  back  into  darkness.  But 
men  may  live  when  they  are  dead.  Streams  may  wind 
out  of  our  sight  and  then  reappear  in  wider  and  deeper 
flow.  Savonarola  was  one  of  God's  most  honored 
instruments  of  radical  and  lasting  reform.  In  the  city 
of  Worms  may  be  seen  the  conspicuous  Luther  monu- 
ment, and  in  the  clustering  group  around  him,  noble  in 
bearing,  looking  afar  ofl',  is  the  Dominican  monk  who 
electrified  Italy  with  his  eloquence  and  shook  the  throne 
of  iniquity  by  the  earthquake  of  his  holy  rebuke. 

Girolamo  Savonarola  was  born  at  Ferrara,  October 
12, 1452.  His  lineage  was  honorable.  He  received  care- 
ful religious  education  in  the  home,  was  instructed  in  the 
best  available  schools  and  was  early  distinguished  for 
genius  and  learning. 

The  historic  city  of  Ferrara  is  situated  in  Northern 
Italy,  near  the  Apennines,  and  at  a  short  remove  from 
the  more  noted  city  of  Venice,  the  Queen  of  the  Adri- 
atic.    Girolamo  was  often  observed  walking  the  narrow 


SAVONAROLA.  66 

streets  of  lils  native  city,  liogeriug  in  the  shade  of  high 
balconies,  lost  in  thonght,  taking  little  notice  of  the 
crowd  that  jostled  him  along  the  way.  Yet  he  was 
occupied  with  facts  he  had  gathered  from  observation  of 
the  times  in  which  he  lived.  A  careful  scrutiny  of  char- 
acter and  life  about  him  led  him  to  profound  meditation 
upon  the  condition  and  needs  he  had  discovered.  He  was 
more  given  to  the  study  of  men  than  to  that  of  books. 
The  disputes  of  Schoolmen  and  the  speculations  of 
philosophers  were  in  his  esteem  of  little  account.  They 
did  not  touch  real  life  and  help  it  up  to  higher  grounds. 
Yet  among  those  scholastics  who  were  eminently  holy, 
as  he  thought,  was  Thomas  Aquinas,  the  *' Angelic 
Doctor."  Girolamo  longed  to  live  the  life  of  the 
departed  saint  and  to  awaken  his  generation  to  like 
aspirations. 

Near  by  his  home  lived  a  noble  Florentine  who  ac- 
counted himself  specially  honored  in  his  ancestry  and  his 
early  association  with  the  ^lite.  He  had  a  daughter  who 
was  possessed  of  rare  beauty  of  person,  and  Girolamo 
thought  the  outward  grace  was  an  expression  of  inward 
excellence.  He  occasionally  met  her  on  the  narrow  street 
or  saw  her  looking  down  upon  him  from  the  balcony 
of  her  pretentious  home.  Soon  there  came  into  his 
heart  a  deep  and  idolizing  affection  for  the  nobleman's 
daughter.  But  she  was  proud ;  her  family  was  nobler 
than  Savonarola's.  She  refused  the  youth  who  had 
sought  her  regard.  The  hope  which  had  inspired  the 
recent  months  went  out,  and  dark  shadows  fell  on  all 
the  prospects  of  a  happy  domesticity.  That  event  was 
a  pivot  on  which  the  life  of  Girolamo  turned.  It  gave 
a  new  complexion  to  his  future,  and,  diverted  from  the 


66  BOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

way  his  heart  devised,  God  led  him  into  a  life  by  which 
he  made  himself  a  Dame  for  ever. 

His  grandfather,  Michael  Savonarola,  had  been  phy- 
sician to  one  of  the  dukes  of  the  house  of  Este.  The 
duke  had  solicited  his  removal  from  Padua  to  Ferrara, 
received  him  to  his  court  and  honored  him  for  his  learn- 
ing and  professional  skill.  Girolamo's  parents  had 
wished  their  son  to  become  heir  to  ancestral  distinc- 
tion, and  as  a  physician  in  Ferrara  be  the  support  and 
solace  of  their  age.  But  all  his  plans  of  life  were  frus- 
trated by  a  disappointed  hope.  The  world's  attraction 
was  gone.  He  had  nothing  to  live  for  except  the  culture 
of  his  spiritual  life  and  the  good  of  his  generation.  The 
medical  profession  did  not  attract  him,  nor  did  it  prom- 
ise results  he  desired  to  achieve.  He  was  not  indifferent 
to  the  wishes  of  his  parents.  He  loved  them  tenderly. 
His  mother  was  more  to  him  than  all  the  world  besides. 
But  there  was  a  voice  he  thought  he  could  not  mistake, 
the  voice  of  God,  calling  him  away  from  the  shelter  of 
the  home-roof  and  the  fond  embraces  of  parental  love. 
Along  a  path  that  seemed  rugged,  conducting  into  soli- 
tude and  deepening  shadows — a  path  that  might  ulti- 
mately lead  out  into  a  broader  place  and  more  helpful 
service — he  must  take  his  lonely  way.  An  evening  came 
to  Ferrara  which  seemed  strangely  quiet.  Girolamo 
looked  thoughtfully  out  into  the  night.  He  dropped 
some  words  which  failed  to  reveal  what  his  throbbing 
heart  would  not  permit  him  to  utter.  The  mother  was 
oppressed  by  a  presentiment  of  some  approaching  sorrow. 
The  next  night,  succeeding  a  festal  day  in  Ferrara, 
Nicholas  Savonarola  and  his  wife  found  a  paper  among 
Girolamo's  books  Avhich  they  read  through  their  tears. 


SAVONAROLA,  67 

It  told  tliem  of  their  son's  plan  of  life.  God  called  and 
he  could  not  disobey.  While  they  communed  together 
a  young  traveler  was  knocking  at  the  dooi  of  the 
Dominican  monastery  in  Bologna,  a  day's  journey  toward 
the  south.  It  was  Girolamo  Savonarola.  The  date  of 
his  entrance  to  the  monastery  was  April  24,  1475,  in  the 
twenty-third  year  of  his  age.  Soon  the  post  carried  a 
message  home.  Girolamo  explained  his  sudden  depart- 
ure ;  "  If  I  had  laid  open  my  breast  to  you,  I  verily 
believe  that  the  very  idea  that  I  was  going  to  leave  you 
would  have  broken  my  heart.''  He  also  stated  the 
motive  which  had  determined  his  course — "  the  misery 
of  the  world  "  and  "  the  iniquities  of  men."  "  I  could 
not  endure  the  enormous  wickedness  of  the  blinded  peo- 
ple of  Italy,  and  the  more  so  because  I  saw  everywhere 
virtue  despised  and  vice  honored."  He  had  hoped  in 
the  monastery  to  be  surrounded  with  men  devoted  to 
holy  pursuits — men  who  communed  with  Him  who  is 
invisible  and  lived  under  the  power  of  the  world  to 
come.  In  all  this  he  was  sadly  disappointed.  The  en- 
chantment which  distance  gave  to  a  monastic  life  disap- 
peared. It  was  evident  that  the  spirit  of  the  world  had 
entered  the  solitude  of  the  convent.  The  rough  garment 
of  the  Dominicans  could  not  hide  their  native  depravity. 
Devout  attitudes  and  solemn  prayer  uttered  by  thought- 
less lips  failed  to  correct  the  trend  and  outward  expres- 
sion of  unmoved  hearts.  He  was  disappointed,  as  was 
the  monk  of  Wittenberg  at  Rome.  The  monastery  at 
Bologna  was  a  cage  of  unclean  birds.  The  life  of  the 
world  in  a  quiet  current,  yet  deep,  flowed  through  the 
seclusion  of  convent-life,  polluting  whatever  it  touched. 
Exceptional  piety  may  have  existed  even  there.     Down 


68  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

the  long  line  of  cells  there  may  have  been  found  a 
Thomas  Aquinas  or  John  Staupitz,  or  one  who  sought, 
though  he  may  not  have  reached,  the  higher  experiences 
of  a  holy  consecration.  Where  there  is  one  Girolamo 
there  may  be  another.  But  the  Dominican  monastery 
was  a  Sodom.  Savonarola  had  forecasted  the  world's 
doom  when  he  mingled  with  the  godless  people  of  Fer- 
rara  and  heard  reports  from  other  parts  of  virtueless 
Italy.  Now,  in  contact  with  the  corruptness  of  the 
Church  in  conditions  supposed  to  be  most  favorable  for 
the  cultivation  of  holiness,  he  is  even  more  appalled  by 
the  threatening  clouds  which  gather  over  the  future,  and 
in  a  poetic  dissertation  concerning  De  Ruina  Eccleswe, 
he  sounds  the  first  notes  of  an  alarm  which  is  yet  to 
cross  the  Apennines  and  rouse  the  displeasure  of  the  Holy 
See. 

For  seven  years  he  dwelt  in  the  convent.  He  was 
occupied  with  the  study  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  and 
wrote  long  disquisitions  on  philosophy  which  revealed 
his  rare  genius  as  well  as  his  familiarity  with  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Academy  and  the  Lyceum.  But  he  seems  to 
have  assigned  the  Sacred  Scriptures  the  highest  place  in 
his  regard  and  to  have  devoted  to  them  his  most  thought- 
ful hours.  Speculative  philosophy,  which  attained  its  cul- 
mination in  the  golden  age  of  Athens  and  Attica,  was  but 
a  dim,  uncertain  rushlight  in  comparison  with  the  clear 
shining  of  revelation  which  interpreted  the  past,  illumined 
the  future  and  answered  the  profoundest  questionings  of 
the  human  lieart.  Much  as  he  had  valued  the  dialectics 
of  Aquinas,  he  preferred  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  St.  Paul  and 
commune  with  the  great  teacher  who  came  from  God. 
Hence  he  sought  to  inspire  the  monks  of  Bologna  with 


SAVONAROLA.  69 

reverence  for  the  word  of  God — for  revelation  in  its 
entirety  and  dependence  of  parts,  though  separated  by 
ages.  His  efforts  were  not  wholly  in  vain.  His  lectures 
on  philosophy  secured  him  the  respectful  regard  of  his 
pupils.  His  communings  with  God  through  the  inspired 
volume  opened  to  them  visions  of  spiritual  excellence 
which  beckoned  them  away  from  the  superstition,  form- 
ality and  sensuousness  of  their  monastic  life.  But  his 
sphere  of  influence  was  narrow.  He  yearned  for  greater 
things.  He  saw  in  the  distance  the  possibilities  of  moral 
potency  which  turned  to  prophecies,  and  there  entered 
into  the  privacy  of  his  cell  the  radiance  of  a  grander 
future. 

Then  there  came  rumors  of  gigantic  crimes  in  the 
world  he  had  left  behind  him.  A  little  later  the  Pazzi 
conspiracy  was  an  established  fact.  The  two  Medici 
were  assailed  in  the  height  of  their  power.  In  the 
church  of  Santa  Maria  del  Fiore,  in  Florence,  during  the 
celebration  of  the  mass,  Giuliano  was  slain.  Lorenzo 
was  also  smitten  by  one  of  the  priests,  but  the  stiletto 
reached  no  vital  part  and  he  escaped.  The  nepotism 
of  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  suffered  defeat.  His  family,  whom 
he  had  hoped  to  advance  to  power,  reaching  it  over  the 
dead  bodies  of  the  Medici,  was  deeply  chagrined  by  the 
failure.  Had  the  assassin  struck  with  an  unerring  aim, 
the  result  would  have  been  all  the  pope  and  his  priestly 
agents  had  sought.  But  Lorenzo  lived  to  inflict  a  bloody 
revenge.  The  archbishop  of  Pisa,  who  had  directed  the 
as&iissination,  his  ecclesiastical  robes  mocking  his  death- 
agony,  was  hung  in  the  view  of  the  populace  gathered  'in 
the  Palazzo  Yecchio,  and  hundreds  of  conspirators  were 
executed  for  their  crime.     Then  Sixtus  IV.  thundered 


70  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

his  anathemas  in  the  ears  of  Florence.  All  Italy 
trembled  for  a  little  as  if  shaken  by  an  internal  convul- 
sion. The  quiet  which  followed  was  a  premonition  of 
future  storms.  Other  scenes  of  opposition  to  papal 
favoritism  will  be  enacted  on  the  ground  stained  with 
Giuliano's  blood,  and  in  these  Fra  Girolamo  shall  bear  a 
notable  part.  The  young  monk  was  profoundly  moved 
by  the  reports  of  the  conspiracy  the  Church  had  insti- 
gated and  its  sanguinary  sequel.  But  his  time  for  action 
had  not  yet  come. 

Convent  days  crept  on.  The  seven  years  were  num- 
bered. Savonarola  spoke  his  farewell  to  the  Dominicans 
of  Bologna,  his  voice  trembling  with  emotion ;  for, 
despite  all  the  sadness  connected  with  the  venerable 
monastery,  he  had  come  to  love  it  as  Bonnivard  loved 
his  prison. 

From  Bologna  he  proceeded  at  once  to  Ferrara.  It 
was  in  January,  1482,  that  he  arrived  at  his  native  city. 
He  had  not  come  to  resume  his  early  home-life  or  to 
rest  from  his  labors  among  the  scenes  of  other  days. 
He  had  consecrated  himself  to  God  and  the  highest  in- 
terests of  his  race.  Seven  years  had  not  effaced  from 
the  minds  of  the  people  their  early  impressions  of  Girol- 
amo, the  tlioughtful  youth  of  Ferrara,  and  when  it  was 
announced  that  he  would  preach  to  such  as  might  care 
to  listen,  many  who  remembered  the  son  of  Nicholas 
Savonarola  hastened  to  the  designated  place.  But  it  was 
mere  curiosity  that  brought  them,  and  that  satisfied,  the 
most  of  them  ceased  to  come.  It  does  not  appear  that  i 
his  preaching  was  marked  by  tlie  eloquence  which  at-  ' 
tracted  attention  in  later  years.  He  was  still  young, 
scarce  thirty  years  of  age.     His  speech  was  rude  and  his    - 


SAVONAROLA.  71 

manner  awkward.  Many  loved  him  for  Iiis  beauty  of 
character,  his  manifest  sympathy  with  men  and  his 
yearning  for  their  good.  But  his  ministry  was  unsuc- 
cessful, and  when  Ferrara  became  involved  in  war  with 
Venice,  for  which  Sixtus  IV.  was  largely  responsible, 
the  Dominican  monks  of  Ferrara  were  scattered  abroad 
and  Fra  Girolamo  was  sent  to  Florence,  the  beautiful 
capital  of  Tuscany.  Here  he  was  received  at  the  noted 
convent  of  San  Marco.  His  reputation  as  a  teacher  had 
preceded  him,  and  in  the  monastery  of  Florence  he  re- 
sumed the  service  he  had  performed  at  Bologna.  A 
year  later  he  was  made  Lenten  preacher  in  the  church 
of  San  Lorenzo.  The  failure  of  Ferrara  was  repeated. 
His  preaching  was  not  relished  by  the  pleasure-loving 
Florentines.  He  failed  to  prophesy  smooth  things.  He 
did  not  entertain  his  hearers  with  sallies  of  wit,  but  was 
intensely  solemn.  He  seemed  to  possess  much  of  the 
spirit  of  Dante,  who  walked  the  streets  of  Florence 
with  the  reflection  of  eternity  on  his  face,  suggesting 
the  remark  which  the  children  made  as  he  passed  by, 
"  There  is  a  man  who  has  been  in  hell.'*  Savonarola 
was  startled  by  the  wickedness  of  the  city,  alarmed  in 
view  of  the  fearful  consequences  of  sin  and  oppressed 
with  a  sense  of  personal  responsibility.  He  cried  aloud 
and  spared  not.  He  showed  the  people  their  sins,  and 
besought  them  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  It  was 
not  long  until  San  Lorenzo  was  wellnigh  deserted. 
Meanwhile  the  church  of  San  Spirito  was  crowded. 
Fra  Mariano  was  an  orator,  a  rhetorician,  a  time-server, 
who  sought  personal  popidarity  as  the  supreme  good, 
and  cared  not  if  dead  souls  were  the  stepping-stones  of 
his  ascent.     He  entertained  the  people  with  flights  of 


72  BOMA^USM  AM)   THE  REFORMERS. 

imagination,  with  gorgeous  woi'd-pic^tures,  with  lying 
flatteries.  The  sermon  was  a  beautiful  mosaic  on  which 
no  shadow  rested.  The  world  heard  no  rebuke,  no 
voi3e  of  warning,  no  summons  to  a  pure  and  heavenly 
life.  The  people  applauded  Fra  Mariano;  they  de- 
spised the  preacher  of  San  Lorenzo.  Savonarola  was 
dejected  by  his  want  of  success,  and  yet  a  great  hope 
sustained  him  :  Florence  will  hear  him  on  some  other 
day. 

He  was  sent  fi-om  the  gay  capital  to  a  church  in  San 
Gemigniaro,  was  removed  thence  to  Brescia,  and  at  last 
was  established  in  the  Dominican  chapter  of  Reggio. 
In  these  retired  regions  his  latent  powers  were  rapidly 
developed.  The  people  hung  on  his  lips,  melted  into 
tears,  cried  aloud  for  mercy.  Hell  yawned  at  their  feet, 
heaven  opened  wide  its  gates.  The  cross,  double-armed, 
told  of  danger  and  pointed  to  a  secure,  eternal  Refuge. 
His  voice  was  at  times  as  the  roar  of  an  avalanche  and 
solemn  as  eternity ;  again,  it  was  plaintive  as  the  sigh- 
ing of  the  pines  on  the  mountain-slopes.  He  dared  to 
do  his  duty.  He  drew  the  curtains  which  had  concealed 
the  chambers  of  imagery  in  the  hearts  froni  which  God 
had  departed.  He  seemed  endowed  with  omniscience 
and  discovered  the  very  thoughts  of  sin.  He  smote  the 
thrones  of  iniquity  as  with  the  hand  of  omnipotence. 
He  was  a  Jonah  crying  on  the  highways  and  byways  of 
sin,  portending  the  speedy  ruin  of  the  cities  of  Italy, 
depraved  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  if  they  failed  to 
repent. 

At  the  services  in  the  Dominican  chapter  of  Reggio 
was  seen  a  man  whose  repute  as  a  scholar  was  famous. 
His  genius  was   exceptional.     The   mountaineers  could 


SA  VONAROLA.  73 

not  invent  terras  to  set  forth  their  reverence  for  the 
stranger  whom  Florence  rejected ;  but  in  that  crowded 
chapter  there  was  none  more  deeply  moved  than  Gio- 
vanni Pico  della  Mirandola.  There  came  to  him  impres- 
sions of  God  and  eternity  wholly  unknown  before. 
They  came  to  stay.  He  pronounced  Savonarola  the 
greatest  orator  known  to  the  age.  He  may  have  dis- 
covered defects  in  the  monk^s  logic,  want  of  finish  in  his 
style  and  blemishes  in  his  oratory.  But  his  earnestness 
atoned  for  all  that.  He  evidently  preached  the  truth, 
believed  the  truth,  lived  under  the  power  of  the  truth. 
He  did  not  seek  the  world's  favor,  but  its  salvation. 
He  longed  to  lift  men  out  of  sin  up  to  holiness  and 
into  fellowship  with  God.  Admiring  his  integrity  of 
life  and  purity  of  motive,  Pico  of  Mirandola  expressed 
his  estimate  of  the  Dominican  preacher  to  Lorenzo  de 
Medici,  and  the  latter  solicited  Savonarola's  return  to 
Florence.  After  some  delay,  continuing  an  unfinished 
work  in  Reggio  and  making  a  desired  visit  to  Genoa, 
the  invitation  was  accepted,  and  the  mountain-preacher 
who  had  moved  his  auditors  as  the  winds  moved  the 
surrounding  forests  resumed  his  ministrations  in  the 
gay  capital  of  Tuscany.  All  that  had  gone  before  was 
largely  a  preparation  for  the  great  work  of  his  life,  the 
fruitage  of  which  shall  last  for  ever. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  notice  some  of  the 
prominent  features  of  that  age.  It  was  the  period  of 
the  Renaissance.  Science,  literature,  painting  and  sculpt- 
ure had  received  a  sudden  impulse  and  went  onward  by 
rapid  strides.  The  art  of  printing  with  movable  types 
had  just  been  discovered.  Instead  of  manuscripts  few 
in  number,  the  most  of  them  hidden  away  in  monaster- 


74  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

ies,  vv  here  learning  was  largely  confined,  came  the  printed 
page.  Books  were  rapidly  multiplied  and  widely  dis- 
tributed. Though  costly  and  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
humbler  classes,  yet  they  became  accessible  to  many  who 
were  unable  to  purchase  them.  The  noted  Mazarine 
Bible  had  issued  from  the  press  of  Guttenberg  at  Mentz, 
After  the  capture  of  Mentz  by  Adolphus  the  men  who 
had  been  associated  with  Guttenberg,  Faust  and  Schoifer 
were  scattered  abroad,  as  were  the  early  disciples  by  the 
persecutions  which  arose  in  Jerusalem.  Printing-presses 
were  soon  in  use  at  Subiaco,  Milan  and  Venice.  Some 
of  the  old  classics  were  thus  reproduced  at  Rome  and 
elsewhere,  and  other  works  were  issued.  Although  the 
revival  of  learning  did  not  originate  with  the  art  of 
printing,  yet  it  was  greatly  advanced  by  it.  Dante, 
Petrarch,  Boccaccio  and  Villani  had  stirred  the  world 
of  thought  in  the  preceding  century,  and  other  lights 
had  shone  amid  the  ignorance  of  what  we  designate 
as  the  Mediaeval  Age.  It  is  difficult  to  indicate  the 
bep-innino;  of  the  Renaissance,  but  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century  forms  an  approximate  date.  In  Italy 
the  revival  of  learning  was  aided  by  eminent  scholars 
who  had  come  hither  from  the  East  after  the  capture  of 
CiJonstantinople  by  Mohammed  II.  Princes  like  Lorenzo 
de  Medici,  himself  no  mean  poet,  nourished  the  spirit 
of  the  age.  Politiau  owed  much  to  the  fostering  sym- 
pathy of  the  autocrat  of  Florence.  The  names  of 
Ariosto,  who  wrote  the  Orlando  Furioso,  of  Boiardo, 
Macchiavelli,  Aretino,  Rucellai,  Speroue  aud  others  who 
excelled  in  tragic  poetry  and  comedy,  continue  to  the 
present. 

At  the  same  time,  the  fine  arts  were  urged  on  to  greater 


SAVONAROLA.  75 

perfe(!tl()n.  Leonardo  da  Vinci  was  painting  his  Cenacola, 
or  Last  Supper,  in  the  church  of  Santo  Maria  delle 
Grazie  at  Milan  ;  Alberti  was  planning  the  church  of 
San  Francisco  at  Rimini;  and  Ghiberti  had  just  com- 
})leted  the  bronze  doors  of  the  Baptistery  in  Florence ; 
and  meanwhile  the  sailor  of  Genoa  was  crossino;  the 
Atlantic  to  discover  a  new  world  when  in  quest  of  a 
passage  to  India.  This  was  the  age  in  which  Savonarola 
lived,  and  the  Renaissance  was  in  its  glory  when  he  re- 
turned to  Florence  at  the  call  of  Lorenzo. 

It  was  also  an  age  of  great  moral  corruption.  It  de- 
clared the  impotency  of  classical  learning  and  fine  arts 
and  speculative  philosophy  to  cure  spiritual  disorders 
and  restore  to  man  the  imacre  lost  in  the  fall.  Dea:en- 
eracy  in  morals  seems  to  have  increased  as  the  Renais- 
sance advanced.  The  religious  sentiment  which  inspired 
Raphael,  Leonardo  and  Michael  Angelo  was  largely  ab- 
sent in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Science 
and  art  were  exalted  above  religion,  and  their  decadence 
was  an  inevitable  sequence.  Mental  culture  must  be 
planted  in  piety,  or  it  will  be  meagre,  unhealtliful  and 
marred.  It  has  been  remarked  by  John  Ruskin  that 
from  the  early  period  of  the  Renaissance  until  now 
"they  have  tried  to  produce  Michael  Angelos  and  Leon- 
ardos by  teaching  the  barren  sciences,  and  still  mourned 
and  marveled  that  no  Michael  Angelos  came,  not  per- 
ceiving that  these  great  fathers  were  only  able  to  secure 
such  nourishment  because  they  were  rooted  on  the  Rock 
of  all  ages,  and  that  our  scientific  teaching  now-a-days 
is  nothing  more  or  less  than  the  assiduous  watering  of 
trees  whose  stems  are  cut  through.'^ 

At  the  time  when  Savonarola  came  conspicuously  to 


76  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

view  that  faith  in  God  which  develops  both  the  mental 
and  spiritual  faculties  was  quite  unknown,  and  whilst 
learning  dropped  from  its  former  eminence,  yet  retained 
much  of  its  former  glory,  the  corruption  in  morals  made 
alarming  progress.  Wickedness  occupied  high  places 
and  dominated  all  classes.  The  teachers  of  religion 
were  the  slaves  of  sin.  Rioting,  drunkenness,  licen- 
tiousness and  every  form  of  vice  prevailed.  God  was 
dethroned  from  human  regard,  and  the  trail  of  the  ser- 
pent was  over  all.  Even  Pope  Innocent  VIII.,  who  had 
winked  at  iniquity,  was  alarmed  by  its  progress  and  re- 
peated the  edict  of  Pius  II.,  which  forbade  "  priests  to 
keep  taverns,  playhouses  or  brothels,  or  to  act  as  paid 
ao^ents  of  courtesans." 

Such  was  the  condition  of  Italy  when  Fra  Girolamo 
returned  to  Florence.  What  could  this  lone  monk  ac- 
complish in  the  wicked  capital?  Who  would  listen  to 
him  who  had  before  been  tried  and  found  wanting  ?  The 
memory  of  San  Lorenzo  and  the  preacher's  failure  was 
fresh  in  the  minds  of  many.  Girolamo  appears  to  have 
shrunk  from  public  notice  and  resumed  his  work  in  the 
seclusion  of  San  Marco.  At  first  he  was  occupied  with 
the  instruction  of  monks.  When  the  class-room  became 
inadequate  for  his  purpose,  he  lectured  in  the  convent- 
garden.  His  power  was  a  marvel  to  the  Dominicans. 
Surely  he  must  have  a  larger  sphere  in  which  to  exercise 
his  exceptional  gifts.  Though  Florence  had  once  re- 
jected him,  Florence  will  hear  him  now.  A  voice  from 
Heaven  seemed  to  call  the  preacher  to  wider  audience. 
Still,  lie  advanced  by  gradual  steps.  It  was  announced 
tliat  he  would  preach  in  the  convent-chapel,  and  when' 
the  appointed  day  arrived  the  place  was  crowded.    Many 


5^^  VONABOLA.  77 

were  anxious  to  hear  the  man  who  had  developed  a  weird 
resistless  power  in  the  mountain  villages  and  commanded 
the  attention  of  the  great.  His  next  appearance  was  in 
the  great  Florentine  cathedral,  the  rival  of  St.  Peter's 
at  Rome.  Mercurial  Florence  was  represented  by  a 
multitude  seldom  equaled  in  that  spacious  temple.  The 
pleasure-loving  people  of  the  metropolis  were  as  pro- 
foundly stirred  as  were  the  mountaineers  who  flocked 
about  his  pulpit  in  Reggio.  His  eloquence  fascinated 
them ;  his  audacity  startled  them ;  his  solemnity  of 
speech  awed  them  into  silence.  At  times  the  vast  as- 
sembly was  moved  to  tears,  and  occasional  sobs  deepened 
the  general  impression.  There  was  an  indefinable  power 
in  the  monk's  oratory  and  a  singular  grandeur  in  his 
heroism.  There  he  stands  in  the  high  pulpit,  the  very 
impersonation  of  truth,  firm  as  a  rock,  fearless  as  the 
Tishbite  prophet,  affectionate  as  the  beloved  John.  His 
high  forehead  bears  the  marks  of  anxious  thought.  His 
deep-blue  eyes  pierce  with  a  searching  scrutiny  or  melt 
in  faithful  love.  All  his  features  are  strongly  marked. 
His  is  a  Dantean  face  which  once  seen  can  never  be  for- 
gotten. His  manner  is  distinguished  by  intense  earnest- 
ness rather  than  grace,  and  his  speech  by  spiritual  force 
than  by  the  finish  of  studied  rhetoric.  It  suggested  the 
arrow  once  found  on  a  battle-field  of  the  Orient  bearing 
the  inscription,  "  For  Philip's  eye."  His  mission  was 
to  rebuke  sin  without  respect  of  persons,  to  declare  the 
awful  holiness  of  God,  to  announce  the  doom  of  the 
finally  impenitent,  and  by  every  motive  he  could  dis- 
c;over  to  win  men,  if  possible,  to  a  life  of  holiness.  His 
generation  revered  him,  but  never  learned  the  full  meas- 
ure of  his  power.     He  was  one  of  the  Alpine  men  of 


78  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

this  later  dispensation  whose  name,  for  a  little  obscured, 
shall  live  for  ever. 

The  fame  of  Savonarola  went  abroad.  Strangers  in 
Florence  hastened  to  the  cathedral  to  hear  him.  They 
carried  his  messages  to  their  homes,  and  so  extended  the 
reach  of  his  influence  on  both  sides  the  Apennines.  As 
a  rule,  people  are  not  attracted  to  preachers  who  say 
much  about  sin  and  with  a  Damascus  blade  smite  down 
self-sufficiency.  They  prefer  those  who  exalt  humanity, 
make  their  hearers  think  well  of  themselves,  and  hang 
out  brilliant  but  folse  lights  along  the  circumference  of 
absolute  need,  and  build  for  immortal  souls  airy  castles 
that  shall  disappear  before  the  storm  of  holy  retribution. 
Yet  human  consciousness  approves  the  faithful  preacher. 
The  soul  was  made  for  truth,  and  the  great  fact  of  sin  is 
admitted,  though  salvation  be  unsought.  Every  man 
carries  within  him  a  reminiscence  of  departed  glory  and 
a  premonition  of  doom.  In  his  thoughtful  moods  a 
conscious  sinner  commends  the  preacher  who  declares 
the  truth  in  love,  and  speaks  as  from  the  battlements  of 
the  invisible  world.  There  was  a  reason,  grounded  in 
man's  religious  nature,  for  the  popularity  of  Girolamo, 
and  the  church  of  San  Spirito  emptied  its  throng  into 
the  greater  Duomo. 

When  Lorenzo  was  dying,  although  the  monk  who 
had  been  made  the  prior  of  San  Marco  had  not  accorded 
to  the  prince  the  reverence  which  he  felt  was  his  due, 
and  had  by  his  loud  denunciation  of  sin  disturbed  his 
complacency,  yet  he  selected  this  modern  Elijah  to  be  his 
spiritual  adviser,  saying,  "Send  for  the  prior  of  San 
Marco :  he  is  the  only  true  monk  I  know.''  At  the 
deathbed  of  the  prince  Girolamo  furnished  an  additional 


SAVONABOLA.  79 

example  of  his  unswerving  adherence  to  duty.  Tlien; 
appeared  an  undue  severity  in  his  treatment  of  the 
expiring  ruler,  a  man  who  combined  in  his  character 
elements  of  good  and  evil,  a  despot  whose  power  was 
often  wisely  and  beneficently  exercised.  But  whilst  the 
prior  was  ready  to  recognize  whatever  was  good  in  the 
private  and  public  life  of  the  prince,  yet  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  his  vices,  and  was  persuaded  that  his  ex- 
ample and  rule  had  extended  the  compass  and  power  of 
sin  in  the  city  and  nominal  republic  of  Florence.  Lorenzo 
made  confession  of  his  sins.  He  admitted  his  grave  of- 
fending iu  the  sacking  of  the  town  of  Volterra,  in  divert- 
ing the  dowries  of  orphan  girls  in  Florence  to  the  prose- 
cution of  war  with  Volterra,  and  the  cruel  indiscriminate 
massacre  which  succeeded  the  Pazzi  conspiracy.  The 
prior  was  asked  to  grant  absolution.  He  consented  to 
do  it  on  these  conditions  :  First  of  all,  Lorenzo  must 
confess  faith  in  God,  merciful  as  he  is  holy  ;  this  the 
prince  was  prompt  to  do.  Then  he  must  make  restitu- 
tion to  those  he  had  defrauded  ;  this  he  was  willing  to 
do.  Further,  he  must  restore  liberty  to  Florence.  To  the 
last  condition  of  priestly  absolution  Lorenzo  refused  as- 
sent. The  ambition  of  his  life  had  been  to  establish  the 
power  of  the  Medici  in  Florence.  He  held  the  sceptre 
in  his  dying  clasp,  ready  to  transfer  it  to  his  son.  Shall 
it  be  shivered  into  fragments  at  the  feet  of  this  Domini- 
can confessor  ?  Shall  he  undo  in  a  moment  the  result  to 
the  accomplishment  of  which  he  had  devoted  all  his 
years  ?  That  cannot  be.  He  heard  the  hollow  tread  of 
death  sounding  through  the  thin  veil  which  divided 
eternity  from  time,  but,  flashing  his  indignation  upon 
the  immovable  monk,  lie  turned  his  face  to  the  wall  and 


80  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 


died.  Savonarola  left  the  gilded  death-chamber  in  the 
palace  of  Careggi,  persuaded  that  he  should  not  have 
required  more  of  the  dying  prince  and  could  not  have 
demanded  less. 

Thereafter  Girolamo  was  brought  into  more  immedi- 
ate relations  with  the  civil  life  of  his  people.  Piero  de 
Medici  succeeded  his  father.  The  sadness  which  had 
succeeded  the  news  of  Lorenzo's  death,  and  the  appre- 
hension of  evil  which  gathered  like  a  pall  of  darkness 
around  the  capital,  melted  away  as  the  morning  mist  with 
the  auspicious  beginning  of  Piero's  rule.  His  person- 
al presence  commanded  admiration.  He  had  not  the 
scholarly  attainments  of  his  father,  but  his  gifts  and 
acquirements  made  him  illustrious.  His  disposition  was 
supposed  to  be  generous,  conciliatory  and  adapted  to  the 
exio:encies  of  the  times.  But  Florence  soon  discovered 
her  mistake.  The  forebodings  which  followed  Lorenzo's 
death  returned.  A  darker  period  awaits  the  capital  and 
state  of  Tuscany.  Perchance  a  morning  lies  beyond  the 
night. 

Meanwhile,  Fra  Girolamo  continued  his  ministry  in 
the  church  of  Santa  Maria  del  Fiore.  His  power  was 
still  in  the  ascendant.  He  was  a  greater  than  Piero. 
In  some  way  he  may  bring  better  days  to  Florence.  It 
was  a  conjecture  only.  Then,  whilst  the  w^eak,  sensual, 
selfish  prince  was  seeking  his  own  pleasure  and  binding 
the  fetters  of  despotism  on  the  people,  the  prior  of  San 
Marco  had  a  vision  similar  to,  and  yet  quite  unlike,  that 
of  Constantiue  the  Great.  It  was  not  a  cross  suspend- 
ed in  the  heavens,  but  a  sword  with  flashing  blade 
pointing  downward.  On  it  he  read  a  prophecy  of  bene- 
diction and  of  doom.    Judgment  was  at  hand  and  mercy 


SAVONAROLA.  81 

was  near  ! — Gladius  Domini  super  terram  cito  et  velodter 
(the  sword  of  the  Lord  upon  the  earth  shortly  and  swift- 
ly). It  was  not  the  monk's  first  vision.  There  had 
been  others,  and  they  had  not  misled  him.  They  may 
have  been  born  of  a  fevered  imagination,  or  the  day- 
thought  may  have  turned  to  a  dream  by  night.  To  him 
it  was  intensely  real.  These  manifestations  of  the  unseen, 
God  coming  out  of  the  secrecy  of  his  mysterious  being 
and  communing  with  the  Dominican,  had  much  to  do 
with  the  spirit  and  life  of  this  son  of  the  cloister.  He 
believed  God  was  speaking  to  him  and  intended  to  per- 
form mighty  works  by  him.  This  conviction  fired  his 
soul  with  a  self-consuming  zeal,  imparted  a  burning 
eloquence  to  his  speech,  and  clothed  with  moral  courage, 
never  surpassed  since  apostolic  days,  this  chosen  servant 
of  mighty  reforms.  This  furnishes,  however,  only  a 
partial  interpretation  of  Savonarola's  life.  It  had  far 
deeper  roots  and  more  spiritual  visions.  Like  John 
Bunyan,  who  heard  voices  from  heaven  speaking  to  him 
on  the  Elstow  Common,  so  this  preacher  of  an  earlier 
age  drew  from  the  fullness  of  Christ  and  was  baptized 
with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  was  no  stain 
on  his  character,  no  deception  in  his  life,  no  swerving 
from  high  and  holy  purposes  when  princes  threatened 
and  popes  pronounced  him  accursed. 

In  the  pulpit  of  Santa  Maria  the  preacher  told  his 
vision.  ''  The  sword  of  the  Lord  "  seemed  to  hang  over 
Florence.  The  people  trembled  with  fear,  then  cherish- 
ed a  new-born  hope.  The  liberty  they  craved  might 
come,  but  at  what  cost  they  could  not  foretell. 

The  days  went  on.  The  king  of  France,  as  a  de- 
scendant of  the  house  of  Anjou,  had  claimed  the  throne 


82  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

of  Naples.  Whilst  Girolamo  was  predicting  judgments 
from  heaven,  Charles  VIII.  was  moving  his  armies 
eastward.  The  preacher  found  an  interpretation  of  his 
vision.  Charles  VIII.  bore  the  sword  of  the  Lord. 
If  Florence  will  receive  him  he  will  dethrone  the  house 
of  Medici.  Thus  liberty  may  be  restored.  Piero 
thought  to  avert  such  a  termination  of  his  power  by  sur- 
rendering to  the  French,  as  a  peace-offering,  five  of  the 
fortresses  of  Tuscany.  The  indignation  of  the  people 
knew  no  bounds.  Piero  was  driven  from  his  palace,  and 
as  he  fled  through  the  city-gate  the  people  hooted  and 
hissed  the  departing  prince,  and  would  have  slain  him 
ere  that  had  not  Savonarola  bade  them  leave  the  sword 
in  God's  hands.  Thus  ended  the  despotism  of  Piero  de 
Medici.  It  had  continued  two  years  only.  Lorenzo 
when  dying  refused  liberty  to  Florence  and  thought  to 
establish  his  power  for  ever.  The  work  of  his  life  suf- 
fered defeat  in  the  flight  of  his  son.  What  now  ?  Des- 
potism is  broken.  Nepotism  is  dead.  Reconstruction 
is  required.  The  sword  of  the  Lord  had  not  shed  even 
a  drop  of  blood.  Savonarola  would  establish  by  peace- 
ful means  a  better  reign.  To  a  monarchy  none  would 
consent.  For  a  democracy  the  people  were  unprepared. 
An  intermediate  government  might  be  established  em- 
bracing democratic  principles,  recognizing  the  people  as 
the  source  of  power,  with  the  right  to  choose  their  rulers, 
yet  limiting  the  privilege  of  suffrage  to  those  who  might 
use  it  intelligently  and  wisely.  Despotism  on  the  one 
side  and  anarchy  on  the  other  were  to  be  avoided.  The 
ship  of  state  is  summoned  to  the  passage  between  Scylla 
and  Chary bdis.  Savonarola  must  take  the  helm.  Then 
the  Dominican  monk  directed  public  sentiment,  indicated 


SAVONAROLA.  83 

a  form  of  government  and  suggested  a  code  of  laws. 
He  did  all  this  from  the  pulpit.  He  left  the  people 
assembled  in  general  council  to  deliberate,  formulate  and 
act.  He  was  not  personally  present  at  the  Piazza  nor 
at  the  sessions  of  the  Signoria.  But  whatever  he  pro- 
posed they  did.  The  result  was  a  republic  closely  re- 
sembling that  of  Venice.  Two  councils  were  formed  to 
which  all  legislative  power  was  committed.  The  great 
council  comprised  three  thousand  citizens.  The  choice 
of  these  was  restricted  to  those  who  had  been  magistrates 
or  were  the  sons  of  magistrates — men  of  mature  years, 
intelligence  and  influence.  The  higher  council  was 
composed  of  eighty  citizens  of  still  larger  experience, 
with  more  extended  powers,  to  which  all  magistrates 
were  amenable  and  by  which  all  laws  were  submitted 
for  confirmation  or  rejection.  In  addition  to  these  coun- 
cils existed  the  Seigniory  endorsed  with  executive  power. 
This  form  of  government  recommended  by  Savonarola 
resembles  the  limited  monarchy  of  England,  whilst  it 
approximates  to  that  of  the  United  States,  embracing 
less  of  the  democratic  conception,  and  guards  against  the 
evils  which  would  have  resulted  from  universal  suffrage 
— an  extension  of  privilege  which  is  liable  to  great 
abuse  in  any  age  and  imperils  any  nation  in  which  it 
obtains. 

Savonarola  also  suggested  a  modification  of  the  system 
of  taxation  then  in  vogue,  which  was  specially  unjust  to 
some  and  militated  against  the  interests  of  all.  His 
suggestion  was  adopted  under  the  new  regime,  and,  not- 
withstanding all  the  civil  fluctuations  of  Florence  dur- 
ing the  four  centuries  succeeding,  the  system  of  taxation 
proposed  by  the  friar  has  continued  until  the  present. 


84  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS, 

In  addition  to  this  change,  he  advised  the  establishment 
of  a  court  of  appeal  which  might  protect  persons  charged 
with  gross  offences  from  the  injustice  of  the  existing 
court  of  eight  persons,  the  decisions  of  which  were  often 
hastily  made,  often  cruel  and  in  all  instances  final.  The 
people  gave  their  immediate  approval.  He  also  advised 
a  general  amnesty  for  political  offenders,  the  establish- 
ment of  a  banking  system  that  would  guard  the  poor 
from  the  oppressions  of  usury,  and  other  measures  in 
the  interests  of  public  morality.  These  suggestions  were 
promptly  adopted.  The  prior  of  San  Marco  was  the 
statesman  of  Florence,  and  his  wisdom,  so  much  in  ad- 
vance of  his  age,  and  his  influence  upon  the  civil  ap- 
pointments of  that  critical  juncture,  though  the  results 
were  evanescent,  have  made  him  the  admiration  of  the 
civilized  world  in  the  more  advanced  stages  of  its  prog- 
ress. Villari  has  well  said  of  Savonarola  that  "he 
became  the  very  soul  of  the  whole  people,  and  the  chief 
author  of  the  laws  on  which  the  new  government  was 
constituted.  When  we  enter  the  halls  of  the  councils 
we  hear  the  citizens  supporting  his  sentiments  and  dis- 
cussing them  in  his  language.  The  form  of  government 
then  established  was  the  best,  the  only  secure  one,  that 
the  people  had  been  able  to  devise  during  so  many  years 
of  tumultuary  existence.  The  greatest  Florentine  polit- 
ical historians,  after  having  submitted  it  to  a  clcse  ex- 
amination, could  not  refrain  from  bestowing  upon  it  their 
highest  commendation.'' 

This  record  of  history  is  not  to  be  construed  as  an 
approval  of  the  secularizing  of  the  clergy.  The  spir- 
ituality of  the  Church  is  an  accepted  principle.  Civil 
legislation  belongs  to  the  state.     No  ecclesiastical  hierar- 


SAVONAROLA.  85 

chy  is  entitled  to  the  control  of  the  political  life.  Tem- 
poral power  will  invariably  destroy  spiritual  power. 
The  Christian  ministry  is  devoted  to  a  kingdom  which 
is  not  of  this  world.  But  the  exigencies  of  the  times 
and  the  existing  relations  of  the  Church  to  the  State 
furnish  an  apology,  if  any  be  needed,  for  Savonarola's 
indirect  yet  controlling  relation  to  the  political  life  at 
that  particular  juncture.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind 
that  whilst  his  public  teachings  had  reference  to  certain 
political  interests,  he  insisted  most  strenuously  and  always 
upon  the  ^'  fear  of  God  and  the  reformation  of  manners  '^ 
as  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  State.  At  the  same 
time,  he  believed  the  government  of  the  Medici  favored 
corruption  of  morals,  and  he  would  at  least  greatly 
modify  this  result  by  removing  its  cause. 

The  new  republic  soon  passed  away.  Its  principles 
were  the  suggestions  of  exceptional  wisdom.  But  a  re- 
public cannot  last  in  the  absence  of  reverence  for  God 
and  submission  to  his  will.  The  highest  form  of  civil 
liberty  worships  at  the  altars  of  Jehovah.  It  reveres 
God's  house,  God's  day  and  that  divine  revelation  which 
furnishes  an  infallible  code  of  morals. 

As  related  to  the  State,  the  work  of  Fra  Girolamo 
was  a  failure.  Yet  the  statement  requires  qualification. 
Immediately  it  was  so ;  remotely  it  was  not.  Its  influ- 
ence lived  in  other  ages,  was  felt  in  other  lands  and  will 
last  as  long  as  the  world. 

But  it  is  with  his  labors  as  a  moral  reformer  that  we 
are  most  concerned.  A  great  change  was  wrought  in  Flor- 
ence and  in  Italy  through  his  labors.  It  extended  to  all 
classes.  He  began  with  the  convent  of  San  Marco,  and 
by  means  of  the  cathedral  pulpit  extended  his  influence 


86  ROMANISM  AND  THE  BEFORMERS. 

through  wider  spheres.  Monastic  life  had  departed 
from  its  original  simplicity.  The  vow  of  poverty  had 
lost  its  meaning.  The  prohibition  of  the  devout  Antonio 
which  excluded  wealth  and  effeminacy  from  San  Marco 
had  become  a  dead  letter.  Possessions  had  been  ac- 
cumulated ;  the  convent-walls  were  richly  ornamented  ; 
the  tables  were  laden  with  luxuries ;  self-indulgence  dis- 
placed devotion,  and  the  semblance  of  piety  had  wellnigh 
departed.  Savonarola  insisted  on  the  most  radical  re- 
form, and  secured  it.  The  accumulated  wedth  was  de- 
voted to  objects  consistent  with  the  purposes  of  the  order. 
Habits  of  self-denial  were  restored.  Appetites  were 
curbed.  Plainness  in  dress  was  required.  Useful  labor 
furnished  means  of  subsistence.  Time  was  given  to  in- 
tellectual culture,  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  to  de- 
vout meditation  and  stated  acts  of  worship.  The  prior 
did  not  accomplish  all  he  desired.  Outward  reform  did 
not  ensure  a  corresponding  spiritual  change.  But  there 
was  evidence  of  awakened  piety,  and  many  of  the  monks 
of  San  Marco  were  soon  distinguished  for  consecration 
to  the  true  intent  of  monastic  life  as  interpreted  by 
Antonio  and  reaffirmed  by  GiroJamo.  The  influence  of 
the  Florentine  convent  reached  to  other  convents,  and 
these  centres  of  religious  power  made  themselves  felt 
in  the  contiguous  population.  Meanwhile,  the  prior  of 
San  Marco  came  into  direct  contact  with  the  people  of 
the  capital  city  which  influenced  Tuscany  and  regions 
beyond.  The  cathedral  continued  to  be  crowded  from 
pulpit  to  doors.  To  many  entrance  was  impossible.  The 
preacher  did  not  urge  monasticism  as  the  cure  of  sin — 
did  not  substitute  the  form  of  godliness  for  its  power. 
He  declared  the  presence  of  indwelling  depravity  which 


SAVONAROLA.  87 

found  its  fruitage  in  external  sins,  and  the  necessity  of  a 
change  of  heart  in  order  to  a  reformation  of  life.  His 
denunciation  of  prevailing  vices  was  terrible.  His  an- 
nouncement of  coming  judgment  was  fearful.  Mirandola 
described  the  physical  effect  as  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  the  mediaeval  pulpit.  He  represented  many  of  Savon- 
arola's hearers  when  he  said  the  voice  of  thunder  brought 
a  shudder  to  his  bones  and  the  hairs  of  his  head  stood 
on  end.  The  call  to  repentance  was  as  the  call  of  God 
from  a  flashing  throne  wrapped  in  blackness.  But 
Mercy  stood  beside  Justice.  Her  hand  was  on  his. 
Judgment  was  delayed  "  yet  forty  days."  The  people 
trembled,  wept,  prayed.  They  gave  up  their  sins. 
Drunkenness  ceased.  Revelry  came  to  an  end.  The 
regalia  of  folly  and  sensual  pleasures  were  burned  on  the 
public  streets.  Men  who  had  defrauded  their  fellows 
made  restitution.  The  thoughtless  grew  thoughtful. 
The  churches  of  Florence  were  filled.  A  new  order 
of  things  displaced  the  old.  The  people  pronounced 
Savonarola  the  savior  of  Florence.  Italy  felt  the 
shock  of  his  awful  eloquence.  The  papal  throne  trem- 
bled, and  well  it  might,  for  the  worst  member  of  the 
house  of  Borgia  wore  the  tiara.  The  Dominican  monk 
knew  not  the  fear  of  man.  Popes  and  potentates  were 
as  severely  rebuked  as  the  servant  of  the  cloister — the 
great  who  rolled  in  wealth  as  the  peasant  who  spoiled 
his  neighbor's  field.  Every  form  of  sin,  whether  prac- 
ticed in  high  places  or  low,  by  patricians  or  plebeians, 
was  pierced  with  a  flaming  lance  that  went  straight  to 
its  mark.  But  if  he  was  stern  and  awful  as  the  prophet 
who  met  Ahab  in  Naboth's  vineyard  and  condemned  the 
priests  of  Baal  on  Carmel,  yet  guilt  and  judgment  were 


88  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

not  his  only  theme.  He  also  announced  the  mercy  of 
God  in  Jesus  Christ.  There  was  a  way  to  heaven  even 
from  the  gates  of  hell.  It  ran  by  the  cross.  He  be- 
sought the  people  to  receive  the  faith  apostles  preached 
and  the  Christ  in  whom  Polycarp  and  Augustine  be- 
lieved. He  confessed  himself  a  sinner  saved  by  grace. 
His  faith  looked  back  to  Calvary  and  up  to  the  throne 
of  the  Lamb  of  God.  His  voice  mellowed  in  tenderness 
as  he  spoke  of  Him  who  saves,  and  said  for  himself,  "  I 
have  grievously  sinned,  and  thou,  Jesu,  wert  the  suffer- 
er. I  have  been  thine  enemy,  and  thou,  Jesu,  for  my 
sake,  wast  nailed  to  the  cross." 

And  here  we  find  the  secret  of  his  power.  He 
preached  sin,  and  salvation  from  it,  in  dependence  upon 
the  Holy  Ghost,  with  an  earnestness  that  burned  its  way 
to  the  hearts  of  men.  He  was  not  such  an  orator  as  the 
silver-tongued  Chrysostom  ;  he  had  not  the  grace  of  Pas- 
cal, the  eloquence  of  F^nelon,  the  pathos  of  Whitefield. 
Yet  he  was  one  of  the  mightiest  of  preachers.  He 
made  it  evident  that  he  was  moved  by  love  to  souls 
— such  love  as  his  hearers  had  never  known  before.  He 
sought  the  good  of  Florence,  and  to  have  secured  it  as  a 
lasting  heritage  he  was  ready  to  die.  His  was  the  spirit 
of  a  late  Italian,  but  of  higher  birth  and  moved  by 
grander  motives,  which  prompted  that  immortal  utter- 
ance, "If  fifty  Garibaldis  are  imprisoned,  let  Rome 
be  free."  Martin  Luther  knew  more  of  truth,  but 
he  was  not  a  greater  hero  when  he  stood  unmoved  in 
the  Diet  of  Worms,  calm  as  Daniel  in  the  den  when 
he  looked  on  hungry  lions  and  hungry  lions  looked 
on  him. 

But  there  was  a  determination  on  the  part  of  many  to 


SAVONAROLA.  89 

break  Savonarola's  power.  The  friends  of  the  Medici 
were  his  sworn  enemies.  Piero  was  in  Rome.  Mirano 
of  San  Spirito,  inflamed  with  jealousy,  was  in  Rome. 
Alexander  VI.,  a  pope  whom  a  papal  historian  has  des- 
cribed as  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  horrible  monsters 
in  nature,  was  determined  to  crush  the  audacious  monk. 
He  welcomed  Piero  de  Medici  and  Mirano  as  aids  in  his 
murderous  purpose.  But  the  people  had  pronounced 
Girolamo  a  prophet,  and  Alexander  was  not  fully  assured 
of  their  support.  If  he  could  by  other  means  stop  the 
mouth  of  this  intrepid  preacher  or  win  him  back  to  for- 
mer allegiance,  he  would  prefer  a  less  hazardous  course. 
Thereupon  he  invited  Savonarola  to  Rome  and  proffered 
him  a  cardinal's  hat.  The  monk  indignantly  refused 
the  bribe  and  expressed  his  preference  for  the  red  hat 
of  martyrdom.  When  prohibited  from  preaching  he 
remained  silent  for  half  a  year,  then  resumed  his  minis- 
try at  the  request  of  the  Signoria. 

But  it  then  appeared  that  the  popular  sentiment  was 
not  with  him,  and  his  enemies  took  advantage  of  the 
reaction.  How  shall  his  influence  in  the  interests  of  his 
generation  be  regained  ?  or  how  the  power  of  evil  sub- 
dued? Savonarola  could  hope  for  nothing  from  the 
pope.  He  accounted  Alexander  VI.  the  son  of  perdition. 
Although  still  clinging  to  the  papacy  as  a  divine  ordi- 
nation, he  would  not  recognize  this  scion  of  the  Borgias 
as  the  vicar  of  Christ,  the  visible  head  of  the  holy  Cath- 
olic Church.  He  distinguished  the  man  from  the  office. 
Alexander  was  not  pope.  God  had  rejected  him.  As  a 
man  he  was  vile,  contemptible  and  without  power.  His 
interdict  was  not  the  interdict  of  Jesus  Christ ;  the  hand 
was  Joab's.     Persuaded  of  this,  Savonarola  appealed  to 


90  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

the  leading  powers  of  Europe.  He  wrote  letters  to 
Charles  VIII.,  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain,  to 
Maximilian  of  Germany  and  to  Henry  VII.  of  England, 
in  which  he  set  forth  the  corruptions  of  the  Church,  and 
referred  them  largely  to  the  influence  of  Alexander,  who 
had  secured  his  position  by  fraud,  had  given  the  might 
of  his  influence  to  wickedness,  had  yielded  himself  to 
the  power  of  unbelief,  and  should  be  displaced  from  the 
papal  throne  he  had  dishonored.  He  insisted  on  a  gen- 
eral council  to  depose  him  and  choose  a  successor,  and 
cited  precedents  for  so  summary  a  course.  The  appeal 
was  made  in  vain.  Savonarola's  influence  continued  to 
wane.  His  faithfulness  as  a  preacher  of  repentance  had 
provoked  opposition  in  Florence,  and  many  who  had 
withered  under  his  rebukes,  biding  their  time,  appeared 
on  the  open  arena  as  his  sw^orn  enemies  intent  on  his 
destruction.  They  joined  hands  with  Piero  and  Alex- 
ander, and  resorted  to  an  expedient  by  means  of  which 
they  advanced  their  purpose.  The  ordeal  of  fire — a 
passage  between  walls  of  flame,  supposed  by  the  super- 
stitious Florentines  to  determine  questions  of  character 
and  soundness  of  faith — was  duly  announced,  and 
crowds  gathered  in  the  public  square  to  witness  the 
scene.  The  ordeal  did  not  occur,  as  the  conditions  on 
which  Savonarola  consented  to  the  test  were  not  grant- 
ed. The  indignation  of  the  disappointed  populace  w^as 
aroused,  and  the  people  turned  against  their  prophet. 
It  was  a  repetition  of  what  had  occurred  at  Lystra 
when  the  people  stoned  the  man  whom  they  had  pro- 
nounced a  god. 

It  was  a  great  sorrow  to  Savonarola.     His  life-work 
seemed  undone.     The  partisans  of  the  Medici,  who  had 


SAVONAROLA.  91 

trampled  on  popular  freedom,  were  again  in  power. 
The  moral  reform  had  come  to  an  end.  It  was  a 
meteor  which  had  left  a  fading  trail  behind  it,  and 
would  serve  only  to  make  the  darkness  the  more 
apparent.     So  it  seemed. 

The  day  following  the  proposed  ordeal  of  fire  an 
assault  was  made  on  San  Marco.  Francesco  Yalori 
was  slain.  Girolamo  expected  to  meet  a  similar  fate. 
He  gathered  the  Dominican  brothers  in  the  convent- 
library  and  calmly  addressed  them.  There  was  great 
pathos  in  his  words.  He  affirmed  his  faith  in  God  and 
in  the  truth  he  had  preached,  then  added,  in  tones  of 
moving  tenderness :  "  I  did  not  know  that  all  the  city 
was  so  soon  to  turn  against  me ;  but  the  will  of  the 
Lord  be  done.  This  is  my  last  counsel :  let  faith, 
patience  and  prayer  be  your  armor.  I  leave  you  in 
anguish  to  give  me  to  mine  enemies." 

San  Marco  could  not  resist  the  powerful  assault,  and 
nothing  was  left  but  to  submit  to  the  foe.  The  Signoria 
commanded  the  seizure  of  Fra  Girolamo,  Fra  Dominico 
and  Fra  Salvsestro.  The  first  two  were  immediately 
imprisoned.  Fra  Salvsestro  surrendered  on  the  day 
following. 

Then  came  the  mock  trial,  and  it  was  long  protracted. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  secure  a  recantation,  but  Girol- 
amo submitted  to  brutal  tortures  rather  than  throw  the 
slightest  shadow  on  his  integrity  of  purpose  and  devo- 
tion to  truth.  It  was  claimed  that  he  did  invalidate  his 
former  testimony  by  humble  confession  of  error.  The 
proof  of  this  is  wanting.  His  enemies  were  the  only 
witnesses  to  the  confession.  When  torture  had  failed  to 
extort  self-crimination  in  reply  to  questions  addressed  to 


92  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

him,  Ceccone,  a  uotaiy,  said,  "  We  will  make  answers 
for  him.'^     This  Ceccone  doubtless  did. 

The  weeks  passed  on.  Girolamo  rested  on  God.  He 
pleaded  anew  the  cleansing  blood  of  Christ :  ^'  O  Lord, 
a  thousand  times  hast  thou  wiped  out  my  iniquity.  I 
do  not  rely  on  my  own  justification,  but  on  thy  mercy." 
Thus  he  asserted  that  doctrine  which  Martin  Luther 
restored  to  the  Church — -justification  by  faith.  He  had 
maintained  a  life  of  singular  integrity ;  he  had  worn 
the  mantle  of  the  holy  Antonio.  His  enemies  might 
pronounce  him  heretical,  but  they  could  not  deny  his 
sanctity.  Yet  his  trust  was  not  there,  but  in  the  mercy 
of  God  exercised  through  Jesus  Christ. 

The  trial  was  resumed,  but  no  charge  against  him 
could  ])e  established.  What  should  be  done?  There  was 
one  in  that  Florentine  Sauhedrin  who  would  not  con- 
sent to  his  death.  The  rest  were  determined  on  his  exe- 
cution, and  to  Agnolis  Pandolfini  they  replied,  '^A  dead 
enemy  fights  no  more.''  The  Signoria  pronounced  his 
sentence — death.  The  three  prisoners  met,  looked  sadly 
into  each  other's  faces,  said  but  little.  Fra  Girolamo 
advised  quietness  and  trust  in  God.  He  would  have 
no  public  protestations  of  innocence ;  they  would  only 
p:ive  occasion  to  their  enemies  to  mock.  It  were  better 
to  go  to  their  death  as  did  their  Lord,  opening  not  their 
mouths.  He  breathed  forth  his  love  to  his  brethren  in 
calm  and  tender  tones,  and  they  knelt  at  the  prior's  feet 
whilst  he  pronounced  his  final  benediction.  Then  each 
repaired  to  his  own  cell. 

Again  the  prisoners  met.  It  was  in  the  morning  of 
the  day  appointed  for  their  execution.  They  united  in 
the   communion   of   the   Lord's   Supper,  and   as   their 


SAVONAROLA.  93 

thoughts  were  occupied  with  the  Mau  of  Sorrows  who 
instituted  the  Supper  the  same  night  on  which  he  was 
betrayed,  their  souls  grew  strong  and  they  welcomed  the 
death  that  should  open  to  them  the  portals  of  heaven. 
Then  Savonarola  offered  a  prayer  in  which  his  fellow- 
prisoners  joined  :  "  I  know,  my  Lord,  that  thou  art 
Trinity,  perfect  and  invisible,  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost.  I  know  that  thou  art  the  eternal  Word,  that 
thou  didst  descend  into  the  bosom  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  didst  ascend  the  cross  to  shed  thy  most  precious 
blood  for  the  remission  of  my  sins.  For  all  the  sins  I 
have  done  I  ask  thy  pardon — pardon  too  for  everything 
I  may  have  done  injurious  to  this  city  and  for  every 
unconscious  error  I  may  have  committed.  Amen  and 
Amen."  The  prayers  of  Savonarola  were  ended.  All 
were  calm.  For  themselves  the  martyrs  had  no  occasion 
to  weep.  For  Florence  and  Italy,  for  the  Church  of 
which  Christ  is  the  true  Bishop,  and  for  the  slain  of 
the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  they  grieved,  but  from 
their  cells  they  saw  the  faint  dawning  of  a  better 
day. 

They  passed  from  the  prison  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio 
to  the  Piazza,  where  their  ecclesiastical  garments  were 
removed,  ihe  bishop  of  Vasona  saying  to  Savonarola, 
"  I  cnt  thee  off  from  the  Church  militant  and  tri- 
umphant;" to  which  the  latter  replied,  '^Militant,  not 
triumphant — that  lies  beyond  your  power.''  Then  they 
were  delivered  to  the  secular  power,  and  the  sentence  of 
death  was  read,  after  which  they  took  their  places  on  a 
rude  scaffold  around  which  were  the  fagots  prepared  for 
the  burning.  Fra  Salvsestro  was  selected  as  the  first  to 
die,  and  as  the  rope  was  about  to  be  adjusted  to  his  neck 


94  B0MANIS3I  AND   THE  BE  FORMERS. 

he  said,  "  Into  thy  hands,  O  Lord,  I  commend  my 
spirit."  Fra  Dominico  seemed  even  joyful  as  he  yielded 
himself  to  his  executioner.  Then  came  Savonarola. 
Tlie  great  Piazza,  crowded  with  dignitaries  of  the  city — 
the  oligarchical  Arrabiati  and  the  republican  Piagnoni 
were  there,  and  criminals  who  had,  Barabbas-like,  been 
liberated  for  the  occasion,  led  the  motley  crowd  in  their 
jeers  and  cruel  mocking.  When  the  prior  of  San  Marco 
stepped  to  his  place  the  Piazza  was  hushed  in  oppressive 
silence.  Strong  men  shuddered.  Eternity  was  there. 
Then  a  voice  broke  the  stiHness  :  "  Prophet,  now  is  the 
time  for  a  miracle."  Perhaps  it  brought  to  Savonarola's 
mind  the  cry  addressed  to  his  Lord  :  "  If  thou  be  the 
Christ,  come  down  from  the  cross."  He  made  no  reply. 
The  hangman  did  his  part,  and  on  the  23d  of  May,  1498, 
in  the  forty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  that  noblest  of  men — 
wliom  princes  honored  and  peasants  revered  and  children 
loved,  of  whom  Florence  was  not  worthy,  the  leading 
statesman,  the  purest  monk,  the  foremost  preacher  of  the 
mediaeval  ages,  who  did  his  duty  in  the  fear  of  God  and 
triumphed  over  death  through  the  cross  of  Christ — suf- 
fered for  righteousness'  sake  and  went  to  his  everlasting 
reward.  After  the  hanging  came  the  burning.  The 
flames  leaped  into  the  air  and  the  smoke  hung  its  pall 
over  the  Piazza.  At  night  the  ashes  were  gathered  and 
cast  into  the  Arno. 

Savonarola,  though  charged  with  heresy,  did  not  die 
as  a  heretic.  He  had  not  called  in  question  a  single 
essential  dogma  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  died  be- 
cause he  rebuked  sin.  The  mother  of  Herod ias  had 
again  appeared  and  demanded  the  head  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, thinking  to  cover  guilt  by  destroying  the  accuser. 


SA  VONABOLA.  95 

Only  a  few  years  had  passed  when  Rome  reversed  her 
decision  concerning  the  martyred  prior  and  assigned 
him  a  place  among  her  saints.  Raphael  hung  his  por- 
trait in  the  Vatican.  Michael  Angelo,  with  Mirandola, 
mourned  the  death  of  his  beloved  Girolamo.  Even 
Florence  for  three  centuries  scattered  May  flowers  over 
the  spot  where  he  died,  and  Donatello^s  statue  of  the 
great  preacher  still  looks  silently  down  on  the  Palace 
square.  Romanists  pay  homage  to  the  man  who  towered 
among  men  and  gathered  the  aureole  of  his  fame  around 
the  head  of  the  holy  Catholic  Church.  Protestants  claim 
him  as  one  of  the  Reformers  who  prepared  the  way  for 
Luther's  coming.  Rudelbach  and  Meier  find  in  his 
teachings  the  salient  elements  of  the  Reformation.  Mar- 
tin Luther  began  where  Fra  Girolamo  began,  with  the 
corruptness  of  the  Church.  He  went  further,  and  dis- 
covered the  sources  of  iniquity  in  the  Romish  system. 
He  sought  to  remove  the  symptoms  by  curing  the  disease. 
Yet  had  there  been  no  Savonarola  there  might  have  been 
no  Luther.  One  thing  is  certain :  the  Florentine  Re- 
former has  lived  in  every  succeeding  age.  His  influence 
is  still  felt  in  Tuscany,  Europe,  the  world.  The  first 
Parliament  of  liberated  Italy,  Pio  Nono  a  prisoner  at 
Rome,  was  opened  in  the  Consiglio  Maggiore,  where 
Savonarola's  great  council  met  when  Piero  de  Medici 
the  autocrat  had  fled  from  Florence.  The  monk  of  San 
Marco  still  declares  the  awful  guilt  of  sin,  salvation 
through  the  cross  and  the  value  of  personal  holiness 
which  reflects  the  beauty  of  the  now  glorified  Christ. 
Villari  recorded  only  a  partial  truth  when  he  said  of 
Savonarola :  "  He  was  the  first  in  the  fifteenth  century 
to  make  men  feel  that  a  new  light  had  awakened  the 


96  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

human  race ;  and  thus  he  was  a  prophet  of  a  new  civil- 
ization, the  forerunner  of  Luther,  of  Bacon,  of  Descartes. 
Hence  the  drama  of  his  life  became,  after  his  death,  the 
drama  of  Europe.  In  the  course  of  a  single  generation 
after  Luther  had  declared  his  mission  the  spirit  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  underwent  a  change.  From  the  halls 
of  the  Vatican  to  the  secluded  hermitage  of  the  Apen- 
nines this  revival  was  felt.  Instead  of  a  Borgia  there 
reigned  a  Caraffa." 


JOHN  HUSS;  EARLIER  LIFE  AND  WORK, 


"  The  son  of  perdition,  who  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself 

above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshiped ;  so  that  he 

as  God  sitteth  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is 

Godr 

2  Thess.  2  :  3,  4. 

"  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  consciejice,  and  hath  left  it  free 
from  the  doctrines  a?id  commandments  of  men  which  are  in 
any  thing  contrary  to  his  ivord,  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith 
or  worship.  So  that  to  believe  such  doctri?ies,  or  to  obey  such 
commandments  out  of  conscience,  is  to  betray  true  liberty  of 
conscience;  afid  the  requiri?ig  a?i  implicit  faith,  a?td  an  abso- 
lute obedience,  is  to  destroy  liberty  of  conscience,  and  reason 
also. ' ' 

Con.  Faith,  chap.  xx.  sec.  ii. 


JOHN  HUSS :  EARLIER  LIFE  AND  WORK. 


BOHEMIA  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  countries 
in  Europe.  Now  a  part  of  the  Austrian  empire, 
it  was  once  an  independent  kingdom,  the  home  of  the 
Celtic  Boii,  whence  it  derives  its  name.  It  is  surround- 
ed by  great  mountain-ranges  which  stand  as  if  to  guard 
it  from  foreign  invasion.  It  is  watered  by  the  Elbe  and 
Moldau,  rivers  of  great  beauty,  which  wind  their  way 
through  mountain-gorges  and  bathe  the  feet  of  long  lines 
of  hills.  Rich  in  its  soil,  genial  in  its  climate  and  abound- 
ing in  scenery  both  picturesque  and  grand,  Bohemia  has 
also  much  historic  interest  which  may  well  engage  atten- 
tion. It  has  been  a  great  battlefield  on  which  truth  has 
contended  with  error  and  righteousness  with  sin,  the 
conflict  sanguinary  and  protracted.  Now  the  smoke  of 
contest  is  departed,  and  in  this  peaceful  age  we  may 
survey  the  past,  wandering  through  the  labyrinths  of 
its  changeful  history,  listening  to  the  voices  of  its  strife 
blending  with  the  shouts  of  victors,  and  catching  the 
breath  of  its  piety  which  struggles  through  the  moral 
miasma. 

We  are  especially  interested  in  the  religious  history 
of  Bohemia.  The  morning  star  of  the  great  Reforma- 
tion which  shed  its  prophetic  light  on  the  British  isles 
shone  on  the  mountains  of  Southern  Germany,  and  was 

99 


100  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

reflected  from  the  bosom  of  the  Moldau.  The  dawn 
was  approachiDg,  and  men  of  God,  standing  in  anxious 
expectation,  caught,  as  they  sometimes  believed,  the 
sheen  of  the  glorious  sun  breaking  through  the  clouds. 

The  continental  Church  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century  was  no  longer  the  Church  of  the  apostles,  of 
Polycarp  and  Augustine.  Its  glory  had  departed,  its 
strength  had  turned  to  weakness,  its  devotion  to  will- 
worship  and  its  Christology  to  Mariolatry.  Even  God 
himself  was  rivaled,  if  not  outranked,  in  human  esteem 
by  the  Roman  PontiiF.  Some  have  believed  that  proph- 
ecy was  fulfilled  in  the  man  who  had  put  on  the  tiara 
and  grasped  the  sceptre,  and  with  unholy  feet  had 
climbed  to  the  throne  of  temporal  and  spiritual  empire, 
opposing  and  exalting  himself  above  all  that  was  called  _ 
God  or  that  was  worshiped ;  so  that  he  as  God  sat  in  the  f 
temple  of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God;  and 
meanw^hile  evil  men  and  seducers  waxed  w^orse  and 
worse,  deceiving  and  being  deceived. 

Charles  IV.  held  his  contested  throne  in  the  city 
divided  by  the  Moldau.  He  boasted  of  the  place  of  his 
royal  residence  that  it  w^as  the  most  beautiful  on  which 
the  sun  shone,  the  home  of  art,  the  centre  of  all  culture 
and  the  heart  of  Germany,  whose  pulsation  was  felt 
from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  and  from  the 
Danube  to  the  English  Channel.  The  University  of 
Prague  was  the  foremost  school  in  Europe,  numbering 
not  less  than  thirty  thousand  students,  and  attracting 
thither  many  of  the  leading  scholars  of  the  age.  The 
Hradschin,  or  Palace  Hill,  crowned  with  cathedrals, 
stood  out  in  bold  relief  against  the  background  of  the 
Laurenziberg  Hills,  once  lurid  with  the  fires  of  heathen 


JOHN  HUSS:  EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.      101 

worship  ;  and  the  great  Karlsbrucke,  or  Charles's  Bridge, 
which  is  the  wonder  of  our  age,  which  was  left  for  a 
succeeding  generation  to  complete,  one  of  the  most  im- 
posing structures  in  Eastern  Europe,  joined  the  Hrad- 
schin  to  the  Kleinsite,  the  old  town  to  the  new.  As  we 
look  upon  the  great  bridge  with  its  massive  arches,  its 
memorials  of  historic  characters  which  gaze  down  with 
stony  eyes  on  the  pageants  of  to-day,  we  are  reminded 
of  another  passage  by  which  the  past  of  religious 
thought  and  life  found  its  way  out  of  the  long  niglit 
of  supei'stition  into  the  morning  of  the  Reformation — a 
morning  born  amid  the  convulsions  of  kingdoms,  and 
sadly  obscured  for  a  season  as  it  rose  on  the  heights  of 
the  Erzgebirge  and  Moravian  mountains. 

The  time  had  come  for  great  ideas  to  be  born  or  to 
emerge  from  their  sepulchres  and  travel  abroad  over  a 
regenerated  earth.  The  circle  of  the  primitive  Church 
was  about  to  return  upon  itself,  sweeping  out  of  dark- 
ness into  pristine  light.  The  truth  Paul  preached  was 
to  be  in  the  ascendant,  the  spiritual  cross  to  extrude  the 
idolatrous  symbol,  and  the  Christ  of  revelation  to  be  a 
real  person  in  a  sense  that  Rome  had  forgotten  to 
teach. 

God  accomplishes  his  purposes  through  human  agen- 
cies. In  an  obscure  village  of  Bohemia  a  son  is  born 
of  humble  parents  who  is  to  be  a  master  in  Israel.  If 
he  fail  to  be  a  Joshua  leading  God's  chosen  people  to 
the  land  of  promise,  he  shall  be  a  Moses  to  weaken  the 
power  of  a  cruel  hierarchy  and  inaugurate  an  exodus 
from  the  domination  of  a  modern  Pharaoh  who  know 
not  Joseph. 

John  Huss  was  born  July  6,  1369  (some  authorities 


102  ROMANISM  AND  TEE  REFORMERS. 

say  in  1373),  at  Hussinitz  in  a  southern  division  of 
Bohemia.  He  derived  his  name  from  the  place  of  his 
nativity.  Of  his  parents  but  little  is  known.  They 
were  poor,  but  worthy.  It  is  probable  that  they  were 
more  devout  than  many  of  their  neighbors,  and  trained 
their  child  with  a  sedulous  care  which  preserved  him 
from  the  vices  that  were  prevalent  in  that  age.  Chil- 
dren are  usually  the  reflection  of  the  home.  So  far  as 
is  known,  no  stain  rested  on  the  early  years  and  no 
grave  deflection  marred  the  character  of  the  youth 
whom  God  designed  to  honor. 

We  find  him  for  a  time  in  one  of  the  monastic  schools 
of  Hussinitz,  a  boy  of  gentle  manners  and  personal 
beauty,  his  large  and  thoughtful  eyes  even  then  seem- 
ing to  catch  a  glimpse  of  his  conspicuous  future.  He 
was  an  ambitious  student.  He  longed  to  read  the 
musty  parchments,  written  in  a  strange  tongue,  which 
in  his  esteem  constituted  the  chief  wealth  of  the  place ; 
and  the  monks,  who  took  a  fancy  to  the  boy,  did  what 
they  could  to  furnish  him  the  key  to  stores  of  knowl- 
edge of  which  they  knew  but  little  themselves.  He 
needed  advantages  the  monastery  did  not  afford,  and 
soon  removed  to  a  school  of  considerable  importance  a 
little  more  remote  from  his  home.  At  Prachatiz  he 
found  what  he  craved,  and  the  possibilities  of  advance- 
ment stimulated  effort.  He  soon  took  high  rank  among 
his  fellow-students,  and  in  due  time  completed  the  pre- 
scribed curriculum  with  honor. 

But  he  was  not  content  with  this.  He  resolved  to 
drink  deeply  from  the  Pierian  spring  and  to  fit  himself 
for  distinguished  services.  The  monks  encouraged  him 
to  enter  the  university  at  Prague,  and  thither  it  was  (X)n- 


JOHN  HUSS:   EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.     103 

eluded  he  should  go.  Accompanied  by  his  mother,  he 
went  to  the  capital  city,  the  far-famed  seat  of  learning 
as  of  imperial  power.  The  great  town,  so  unlike  the 
simple  village  from  which  he  came,  with  its  palaces, 
cathedrals,  schools  and  mighty  priesthood,  together  with 
its  environment  of  natural  beauty  which  betokened  the 
special  favor  of  Heaven,  made  a  profound  impression 
on  the  young  student.  But  the  university,  with  its  vast 
proportions,  numerous  appointments  and  great  libraries, 
was  the  object  of  his  chief  admiration.  One  of  the  pro- 
fessors received  Huss  to  his  ow^n  home  and  arranged  for 
his  support.  His  progress  in  study  fulfilled  the  hopes 
of  the  partial  monks  of  Prachatiz.  With  natural  gifts 
of  a  high  order  Huss  combined  a  patient  endurance 
which  conquered  difficulties  that  discouraged  the  less 
resolute.  He  was  thorough  in  Avhatever  he  undertook, 
and  he  undertook  whatever  promised  advantage.  Whilst 
many  were  content  with  superficial  advantages,  he  went 
to  the  roots  of  things  where  ignorance  and  knowledge 
part  company.  At  the  same  time  he  w^as^not  an  un- 
sympathetic recluse,  wrapped  in  selfishness  and  gov- 
erned by  a  wholly  uusanctified  ambition.  His  moral 
qualities  were  as  admirable  as  his  intellectual,  even  his 
enemies  being  judges.  "His  affability  of  manner,  his 
life  of  austerity  and  self-denial,  against  which  none 
could  bring  a  charge,  his  features  pale  and  melancholy, 
his  body  enfeebled,  and  his  gentleness  toward  all,  even 
of  the  humblest  class,  were  more  effective  than  any 
powiT  of  words." 

The  highest  academic  honors  were  conferred  on  Huss. 
Soon  after  graduation  he  was  made  dean  of  the  theo- 
logical faculty,  and  a  year  later  was  appointed  rector  of 

8 


104  B03IANJS3I  AND   THE  BEFORMEBS. 

the  university.  As  a  preacher  in  the  Betlilehem  church, 
a  spacious  and  elegant  structure  in  the  centre  of  one  of 
the  city  squares,  founded  by  John  of  Mul,  he  attracted 
not  a  little  attention  from  tl.e  first.  His  intellectual 
power  was  recognized  by  all  who  heard  him.  He  soon 
appeared  in  the  rdle  of  a  reformer — not  in  the  sense  of 
the  century  following,  when  multitudes  separated  them- 
selves from  a  corrupt  Church,  but  as  a  faithful  preacher 
of  righteousness  urging  people  to  leave  off  their  sins  and 
seek  after  holiness.  He  performed  his  office  without 
fear  or  favor,  and  could  "  neither  be  frightened  nor  flat- 
tered." Nobles  applauded  him.  Distinguished  scholars 
sat  at  his  feet.  The  common  people  heard  him  gladly. 
His  fame  spread  abroad,  alike  familiar  to  members  of 
the  royal  court  and  the  peasants  on  the  mountain-slopes. 
Even  then  there  were  many  who  realized  the  need  of 
reform,  but  they  continued  loyal  to  Kome.  The  work 
of  renovation  was  to  be  done  in  the  Church,  and  papal 
power,  supposed  to  come  from  God,  was  to  be  perpetuated 
until  the  end  of  time.  Huss  thought  of  nothing  else 
when  he  thundered  from  the  pulpit  of  the  Bethlehem 
chapel,  and  may  have  dreamed  of  nothing  else  when,  a 
martyr  to  the  truth,  he  Avas  bound  to  the  stake.  But 
his  faithful  revelation  and  fearless  denunciation  of 
wickedness  in  high  places  soon  arrayed  against  himself 
the  power  of  the  dominant  priesthood,  and  Rome  lifted 
its  iron  heel  determined  to  crush  the  dangerous  foe. 
The  doom  that  awaits  the  friar  of  Florence  shall  be  the 
doom  of  the  preacher  of  Prague,  and  Huss  and  Savon- 
arola shall  bear  each  other  company  in  the  Tartarus 
prepared  for  heretics.  Rome  will  consent  to  sin  in  its 
clergy,  and   there  is  scarce  any  depth  of  depravity  to 


JOHN  HUSS:  EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.     105 

which  its  clemency  will  not  follow  those  who  are  loyal 
to  its  boastful  assumptions,  but  will  not  tolerate  the  man 
who  would  destroy  the  foundations  of  its  power.  Yet 
if  Huss  had  coutented  himself  with  denouncing  the 
irregularities  of  the  people  and  instituting  a  moral  re- 
form which  should  have  swept  the  wdiole  field  of  com- 
mon life,  even  a  corrupt  hierarcliy  might  have  given 
assent.  All  that  would  have  contributed  to  the  papal 
exchequer  by  diminishing  expenditures  upon  vice,  and 
so  have  added  to  the  power  and  luxury  of  the  hierarchy. 
But  the  influence  of  Wyclif  had  crossed  the  Channel. 
His  vigorous  tractates  and  a  number  of  his  sermons 
had  come  into  the  possession  of  Huss.  At  first  the 
Bohemian  w^as  unwilling  to  accept  the  teachings  of  the 
English  Reformer ;  then  received  sgme  of  them  tentative- 
ly, and  at  last  adopted  them  in  the  main.  He  was  in 
full  accord  with  Wyclif^s  philosophical  realism  and 
predestination,  but  he  held  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation  until  the  last.  It  w^as  quite  evident  that  Huss 
was  departing  from  the  conservatism  which  characterized 
his  early  ministry.  There  were  lines  of  philosophical 
and  devotional  thought  creeping  out  of  the  past,  assum- 
ing more  definite  form,  receiving  new  illumination  from 
current  events,  and  converging  in  the  convictions  and 
teaching  of  the  eloquent  preacher  of  the  Bethlehem 
church.  Rome  looked  with  grave  apprehensions  of  harm 
upon  a  man  whose  power  was  felt  far  beyond  the  walls 
of  Prague  and  dared  assault  the  Holy  See  itself.  He 
was  gathering  around  him,  in  full  sympathy  with  his 
resistance  of  corruption  in  doctrine  and  morals,  some  of 
the  most  influential  priests  of  Bohemia ;  and  in  all  this 
there  was  much  that  portended  evil  to  the  Church. 


106  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Even  rude  art  was  summoned  to  the  aid  of  reform.* 
Two  Englishmen,  James  and  Conrad  of  Canterbury, 
who  were  in  sympathy  with  Wyclifism,  had  come  to 
Prague  to  avail  themselves  of  advantages  furnished  by 
the  university.  They  had  visited  the  Bethlehem  church, 
and  were  delighted  with  the  brave  utterances  of  the 
preacher.  He  had  not  gotten  so  far  on  in  his  search 
after  truth  as  the  English  Reformer,  but  his  progress 
was  leading  that  way.  They  thought  to  put  into  a  con- 
crete form  some  of  the  principles  he  maintained.  They 
would  thereby  give  an  expression  to  personal  convictions 
which,  for  prudential  considerations,  they  had  withheld. 
They  were  admitted  to  the  home  of  Luke  Welensky, 
at  a  considerable  remove  from  the  Capitol  Hill,  and  on 
the  wall  of  one  of  the  apartments  of  his  house  they 
placed  a  representation  of  Christ's  triumphal  entrance 
into  Jerusalem.  The  lowly  Galilean,  humbly  clad, 
bearing  marks  of  exposure  to  the  Syrian  sun,  rides  an 
ass,  advancing  slowly  down  the  slopes  of  Olivet.  But 
the  multitude  are  with  Jesus.  They  strew  the  road  with 
palm-leaves  and  olive-branches  and  shout  their  hosan- 
nas,  whilst  the  disciples,  unpretending  fishermen,  walk 
wonderingly  after.  There  is  a  blending  of  majesty  and 
humility  in  the  scene.  It  is  the  majesty  of  royal  power 
obscured  by  its  humble  surroundings.  It  is  quite  be- 
fitting the  character  of  Him  who  came  not  to  be  minis- 
tered unto,  but  to  minister.  It  is  a  suggestion  to  the 
apostolic  succession  that  humility  becomes  their  office, 
for  the  disciple  should  not  be  above  his  Lord.  The 
companion  painting  is  a  severe  contrast.  It  represents 
a  papal  procession.     It  is  a  fete-day  in  Rome,  and  honor 

*  According:  to  some  authorities. 


JOHN  HUSS:  EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.      107 

is  to  be  sliown  to  the  occupant  of  St.  Peter's  chair.  The 
pope,  gorgeou.sly  arrayed  in  silver  and  gold  and  wearing 
liis  ])ontifical  crown,  rides  a  richly-caparisoned  horse, 
accompanied  by  soldiers  who  carry  spears  and  halberds, 
whilst  the  great  and  small  prostrate  themselves  before 
the  Holy  Father  from  whom  obsequious  emperors  have 
received  their  crowns. 

The  painting  was  an  effective  preacher.  Huss  alluded 
to  it  in  significant  terms.  Multitudes  looked  upon  it, 
received  its  lessons,  and  turned  from  a  mere  man  like 
themselves,  whose  blasphemous  assumptions  might  well 
provoke  the  wrath  of  Heaven,  to  the  unpretending 
Galilean,  through  whose  veil  of  flesh  shone  the  glory 
of  Him  who  made  and  governs  the  world,  God  over 
all,  blessed  for  evermore. 

All  ranks  of  the  ecclesiastical  order  were  severely  cen- 
sured for  their  vices  and  crimes.  Italy  joined  hands 
with  France  in  the  condemnation  of  a  corrupt  priesthood, 
and  the  fulminations  of  a  Zarabella  and  a  Clemengis 
shook  the  foundations  of  hierarchical  presumption  and 
churchly  power. 

The  pretended  miracles  which  appealed  to  the  super- 
stitions of  the  people  and  fostered  them  detached  the 
more  thoughtful  from  a  system  which  practiced  the 
grossest  deception  in  support  of  its  treasury  and  made 
credulity  a  stepping-stone  to  power.  One  of  these  mira- 
cles may  be  instanced.  The  historian  Neander  records 
it.  At  Wilsnack  a  church  had  been  demolished  by  a 
knight.  A  portion  of  a  stone  altar  remained.  In  one 
of  its  cavities  was  found  a  wafer  colored  red.  This 
singular  appearance,  the  result  of  purely  natural  causes, 
was  pronounced  miraculous.     The  blood  of  Christ,  pre- 


108  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

served  through  thirteen  centuries  or  transmitted  from 
the  glorified  body  in  heaven,  had  baptized  the  Host  as  it 
reposed  in  the  altar.  The  miracle  was  noised  abroad. 
Scores  of  pilgrims  were  seen  winding  their  way  down 
the  mountain-slopes.  Men  and  women  of  strange  speech, 
afflicted  with  incurable  diseases,  came  from  the  far  North 
that  they  might  see  and  be  healed.  They  came  from 
Scandinavia,  across  the  Baltic,  from  distant  villages  on 
the  West  and  from  the  valleys  of  the  Vaudois.  Zyb- 
neck,  archbishop  of  Prague,  was  indignant,  and  deter- 
mined to  put  an  end  to  the  harmful  deception.  He  sum- 
moned the  Bethlehem  preacher  to  his  aid,  and  Huss  was 
made  conspicuous  by  his  refutation  of  the  falsehood  wdiich 
was  born  of  priestly  avarice.  This  controversy  did 
much  to  release  Huss  from  the  superstitions  and  the  domi- 
nation of  a  corrupt  Church,  although  he  had  no  thought 
of  separation  from  the  Church  itself.  It  was  one  of 
those  incidents  which  seemed  fortuitous,  but  was  provi- 
dential, and  was  an  important  link  in  that  concatenation 
of  events  by  which  God  wrought  out  his  inscrutable  de- 
signs. The  Bohemian  priest,  who  had  not  joined  with 
the  doctors  and  masters  of  the  university  met  in  the 
Nigra  Rosa  chapel  in  the  condemnation  of  Wyclif 's 
writings,  has  got  further  on  in  his  discovery  of  abuses 
in  the  Church  and  in  a  conviction  of  needed  reform. 
Whilst  he  had,  as  yet,  the  sympathy  of  the  archbishop 
and  of  the  better  portion  of  the  priesthood,  the  most  of 
the  latter  were  arrayed  against  him.  They  determined 
to  break  the  power  of  the  Reformer.  They  deemed 
prompt  and  decisive  action  a  necessity.  They  believed 
a  charge  of  heresy  could  be  sustained.  He  did  not  in- 
terpret the  Scriptures  in  harmony  with  the  Holy  Church. 


JOHN  HUSS:  EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.     109 

It  was  evident  that  he  accepted  Augustine  as  his  teacher, 
was  familiar  with  the  writings  of  Robert  of  Lincoln 
and  was  influenced  by  Conard  Waldhausen  and  Militz 
of  Kremsier,  the  Moravian  who  died  under  a  cloud  at 
Avignon,  and  Matthias  of  Janow,  once  the  father  con- 
fessor of  Charles  IV.,  who  had  arraigned  the  Church  at 
the  bar  of  his  censure,  daring  to  pronounce  the  Holy 
See  the  Antichrist  of  Revelation. 

Huss  had  taken  the  complexion  of  his  associations, 
and  had  gone  beyond  his  teachers  in  his  denunciation  of 
hierarchical  power.  The  archbishop  is  alarmed  at  the 
temerity  of  the  Bethlehem  preacher.  He  sympathizes 
with  his  views  concerning  the  moral  corruptness  of  the 
Romish  Church,  but  he  dare  not  share  his  opposition 
to  papal  authority.  The  time  for  action  on  the  part  of 
the  clergy  was  come.  Complaint  was  made  to  the  arch- 
bishop of  Prague  that  Huss  was  a  pestiferous  heretic 
who  ought  to  be  suppressed.  According  to  Palacky,  the 
terms  of  their  charge  were  the  following :  That  he  had 
originated  a  popular  feeling  against  the  clergy  by  which 
their  influence  was  greatly  impaired ;  that  he  had  identi- 
fied himself  with  the  Bohemians  in  opposition  to  the 
Germans  in  the  management  of  the  university  and  the 
control  of  other  important  interests ;  that  he  had  en- 
couraged disrespect  in  the  Church,  and  had  denounced 
her  right  to  discipline  those  who  insisted  upon  freedom 
of  thought ;  that  he  had  inveighed  against  the  priests  as 
mercenary,  prostituting  their  holy  ofiice  to  personal  ad- 
vantage ;  and  that  he  had  spoken  in  laudatory  terms  of 
that  arch-heretic  Wyclif,  and  expressed  the  wish  that 
his  soul  might  go  where  the  soul  of  Wyclif  was. 

Pope  Alexander  Y.,  influenced  by  the  archbishop  of 


110  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Prague,  issued  a  bull  in  December,  1409,  in  which,  hav- 
ing referred  to  the  writings  of  Wyclif,  their  circulation 
in  Bohemia  and  the  pernicious  results  from  the  dissemi- 
nation of  heresy,  he  directed  the  archbishop  to  take  vig- 
orous measures  against  whatever  tended  to  extend  erro- 
neous doctrines  and  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  Church. 
All  public  teaching  was  to  be  given  thereafter  in  the 
cathedrals,  and  so  be  brought  under  the  control  of  the 
Church.  The  effect  of  this  restriction  would  be  the 
closing  of  all  private  chapels,  in  which  such  men  as 
Huss  were  accustomed  to  indulge  in  great  freedom  of 
speech.  It  was  also  ordered  that  any  of  the  clergy  who 
had  the  writings  of  Wyclif  in  their  possession  should 
transfer  them  to  the  authorities  of  the  Church  appointed 
to  receive  them,  and  in  the  event  of  their  refusal  to  do  this 
they  were  to  be  deprived  of  their  livings.  This  bull  was 
delayed  in  its  passage  to  Prague,  and  was  not  announced 
until  March  9,  1410.  It  produced  great  and  widespread 
excitement.  It  was  intended  to  break  the  power  of 
heresy  in  Bohemia  and  the  contiguous  countries.  The 
effect  was  to  rouse  a  more  determined  resistance  to  the 
assumptions  of  Pome  and  the  restrictions  to  religious 
freedom.  John  Huss  insisted  that  the  word  of  God 
was  the  infallible  rule  of  faith,  and  that  the  hierarchy 
had  no  right  to  deny  the  people  access  to  this  only  reli- 
able source  of  truth.  He  also  claimed  for  himself  and 
others  the  right  to  read  the  writings  of  such  devout  men 
as  John  AVyclif,  of  testing  their  teachings  by  the  supe- 
rior light  of  revelation,  and  of  availing  themselves  of 
all  human  thought  which  was  fitted  to  aid  their  under- 
standing of  the  divine  revelation.  But  the  archbishop, 
who  had  much  to  do  with  the  framing  of  the  papal  bull, 


JOHN  HUSS:  EARLIER   LIFE  AND    WORK.     Ill 

RDcl  SO  fraiiied  it  that  it  would  strike  directly  at  the  per- 
son and  work  of  Huss,  held  his  ground.  Huss  was  for- 
bidden to  preach  in  the  Bethlehem  chapel,  and  was  com- 
manded to  deliver  to  the  archbishop  all  heretical  writ- 
ings in  his  possession.  Huss  appealed  to  the  king,  and 
general  sympathy  was  aroused  in  his  behalf.  But 
Zybneck  proceeded  to  execute  his  purpose,  and  two 
hundred  volumes  of  Wyclif's  writings  were  burned. 
This  disregard  of  personal  rights  of  property  and 
attempted  restriction  of  all  freedom  in  religious  inquiry 
served  to  widen  the  breach  that  separated  Huss  and  his 
friends  from  the  papal  power,  and  gave  an  impetus  to 
reform  which  could  not  be  restrained.  The  conflict  with 
the  papacy  was  definitely  inaugurated.  It  was  to  sweep 
a  wider  field  than  Huss  dreamed  of,  and  only  awaited  a 
later  Reformer  to  carry  it  to  the  very  gate  of  Rome. 
Wyclif  and  Huss  suggested  the  constellation  Gemini 
shining  through  the  papal  night,  and  a  little  farther  on 
they  will  give  place  to  the  glorious  Sun,  whose  light  they 
portend  and  in  which  they  will  gladly  merge  their  pro- 
phetic beams. 

The  gentle  Huss  proved  himself  a  brave  defender  of 
the  truth.  Papal  bulls  did  not  intimidate  him,  threat- 
ened severity  could  not  deflect  him  from  duty.  Plant- 
ing his  feet  on  the  rock  of  eternal  truth,  he  looked  on 
the  gathering  storm.  "  I  avow  it,''  he  said,  "  to  be  my 
purpose  to  defend  the  truth  which  God  has  enabled  me 
to  know,  and  especially  the  truth  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
even  to  death,  since  T  know  that  the  truth  stands  and  is 
for  ever  mighty  and  abides  eternally ;  and  with  Him 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons.  And  if  the  fear  of 
death  should  terrify  me,  still  I  hope  in  my  God   and 


112  RCMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

in  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  the  Lord  will 
oive  me  firmness.  And  if  I  have  found  favor  in  his 
sight  he  will  crown  me  with  martyrdom.'^ 

Wenzel  (or  Wenceslaus),  the  emperor  of  Bohemia, 
whose  hatred  of  the  Romish  clergy  was  most  pro- 
nounced, sympathized  with  Huss.  Many  of  the  lead- 
ing minds  of  Bohemia  were  coming  into  the  light. 
Whilst  popes  contended  with  each  other  for  the  succes- 
sion and  supremacy,  faith  in  the  papacy  was  being 
deeply  wounded  in  the  house  of  its  friends.  Avignon 
and  Rome  were  untiringly  preparing  the  way  for  the  Ref- 
ormation. The  council  assembled  in  the  great  cathedral 
at  Pisa  had  declared  the  deposition  of  both  Benedict  and 
Gregory,  and  had  crowned  Cardinal  Philargi  of  Milan 
under  the  title  of  Alexander  V.  The  deposed  pontiffs 
continued  to  perform  their  functions.  The  Church  wore 
a  triple  crown.  Alexander  V.  died  soon  after  at  Bologna, 
and  Balthasar  Cossa,  a  Neapolitan,  who  was  the  imper- 
sonation of  the  worst  of  vices,  under  the  title  of  John 
XXIII., was  chosen  in  his  stead.  Huss  appealed  to  the 
new  pope  for  a  release  from  the  restriction  laid  upon  his 
work  by  his  predecessor.  King  Wenzel  wrote  the  pope 
at  Bologna  in  favor  of  Huss,  asking  that  the  Bethlehem 
chapel  should  be  confirmed  in  its  privileges,  that  John 
Huss  should  be  permitted  to  resume  his  ministerial  duties 
without  interruption  or  restraint,  and  that  the  dispute 
concerning  the  writings  of  Wyclif  should  be  brought  to 
a  speedy  end. 

The  pope  referred  the  matter  to  a  commission  of  car- 
dinals, of  whom  Otto  de  Cologna  was  the  chief.  The 
former  sentence  against  Huss  was  confirmed,  and  he  was 
cited  to  appear  before  the  pope  at  Bologna.     A  second 


JOHIs'  HIJSS:  EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.     113 

commission,  with  Cardinal  Francisco  a  Zabarilla,  arch- 
bishop of  Florence,  at  its  head,  was  favorably  disposed 
toward  Huss,  but  the  subsequent  reference  of  the  matter 
to  Cardinal  Brancas  resulted  unfavorably  to  the  Bohe- 
mian. The  former  sentence  was  confirmed.  Huss  was 
declared  a  heresiarc^h.  Prague  was  placed  under  an 
interdict.  The  Church  arrayed  itself  against  tlie  secular 
power  and  determined  to  establish  its  supremacy.  Thus 
the  waves  of  contention  met,  then  spent  their  force.  At 
length  a  compromise  restraining  both  parties  to  the  strife 
secured  temporary  quiet. 

It  may  be  fitting  to  introduce  in  this  connection  some 
reference  to  Jerome  Faulfisch,  better  known  in  history 
as  Jerome  of  Prague.  He  was  several  years  the  senior 
of  Huss,  and  had  anticipated  him  somewhat  in  the 
adoption  of  principles  inimical  to  the  papal  supremacy. 
He  had  spent  some  time  at  Oxford,  England,  and  had 
become  familiar  with  the  writings  of  Wyclif,  some  of 
which,  having  been  transcribed  by  himself  or  others,  he 
carried  with  him  to  Prague,  whither  he  returned  in  1398. 
He  admired  the  English  Reformer  both  for  his  intel- 
lectual force  and  for  his  moral  qualities,  and  embraced 
every  opportunity  of  setting  forth  the  views  of  Wyclif. 
At  first  Huss  was  disturbed  by  the  earnest  advocacy  of 
principles  so  far  removed  from  those  which  Rome  had 
maintained  as  absolutely  essential,  and  insisted  that 
Jerome  was  endangering  his  own  peace  of  mind  and 
imperiling  his  soul.  He  besought  him  to  burn  the 
writings  of  Wyclif  or  cast  them  into  the  Moldau.  But, 
as  we  have  seen,  John  Huss  soon  came  into  sympathy 
with  Jerome,  and  even  went  in  advance  of  him  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  Scriptures  in  opposition  to  the  as- 


114  BOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

sumptions  of  Rome.  Somewhat  later,  Jerome  was  charged 
witli  grave  ofFeuces  against  the  Church.  It  was  alleged 
that  he  had  denied  the  pope's  authority  to  grant  indul- 
gences, condemned  the  worship  of  pictures,  despised  the 
sacred  relics,  derided  the  clergy,  rejected  trausubstantia- 
tion  and  had  sought  in  many  ways  to  bring  the  authority 
of  the  Church  into  contempt.  He  was  traced  in  all 
his  travels  from  Oxford  to  Paris,  from  Paris  to  Heid- 
elberg, from  Heidelberg  to  Vienna,  and  thence  to 
Prague,  inciting  to  rebellion  against  the  Church  wherever 
he  went.  He  was  also  charged  with  aiding  and  abetting 
the  heresy  of  Huss.  Some  of  these  allegations  he  pro- 
nounced absolutely  false,  and  others  true.  As  concerning 
his  relations  to  Huss,  he  frankly  replied  :  "  I  call  God  to 
witness  that  I  have  never  seen  in  his  conduct  nor  heard 
in  lectures  by  him  anything  exceptional.  Nay,  I  confess 
that  for  his  gentle  and  correct  life  and  the  sacred  truths 
which  he  explained  to  the  people  from  the  word  of  God 
I  was  his  intimate  friend  ;  for  his  person  and  for  truth's 
sake  a  defender  of  his  honor  in  whatever  place  I  might 
find  myself."  The  sympathy  of  Jerome  did  much  to 
lighten  the  sorrows  of  Huss,  and  the  names  of  these  two 
Reformers  are  linked  in  the  reverence  and  love  of  the 
generations  following.  Jerome  in  an  hour  of  weakness 
appended  his  name  to  a  comprehensive  recantation,  then 
was  deeply  humiliated  with  a  sense  of  his  cowardice,  and 
thereafter  stood  fast  to  his  convictions,  even  with  the 
gleam  of  bayonets  about  him  and  the  glare  of  flames  on 
his  face.  He  survived  Huss  only  one  year.  Condemned 
in  the  mUnster  at  Constance,  he  chanted  the  creed  in  a 
clear,  full  voice,  his  upturned  countenance  reflecting  the 
glory  of  the  nearing  heaven.     Then   he  walked  calmly 


JOHN  HUSS:  EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.     115 

out  the  Gottlieben  gate  to  the  clover-field,  knelt  in 
prayer  before  the  stake,  interceded  in  behalf  of  his 
enemies,  and  submitted  even  with  joy  fulness  to  the 
agonies  of  death,  which  were  so  prolonged  that  it  was 
said,  "  One  might  have  gone  from  St.  Clement's  church 
at  Prague  to  the  bridge  over  the  Moldau  before  he  ceased 
to  breathe/' 

We  return  to  our  narrative.  The  temporary  quiet 
which  Huss  enjoyed  was  disturbed  by  significant  events 
which  kindled  afresh  the  fires  of  persecution.  John 
XXIII.,  September  9,  1411,  issued  a  bull  against  King 
Ladislaus  of  Naples,  who  had  espoused  the  cause  of 
Gregory  XII.  He  was  pronounced  a  heretic,  a  blas- 
phemer, a  base  schismatic,  whose  power  must  be  promptly 
and  for  ever  broken.  Huss  opposed  the  bull.  He  had 
opposed  the  action  of  the  council  at  Pisa  in  its  recog- 
nition of  Alexander  V.  and  John  XXIII.  as  legitimate 
popes,  the  one  at  Bologna,  the  other  at  Rome.  But  he 
was  no  longer  in  sympathy  with  John.  His  vices  were 
so  glaring,  and  his  whole  life  so  constant  a  travesty  on 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  could  no  longer  rec- 
ognize his  authority  as  pontiff  nor  countenance  his  mali- 
cious procedure  against  the  Neapolitan  king. 

In  Prague  the  excitement  occasioned  by  the  pope's 
bull  advanced  to  an  alarming  height.  John  XXIII. 
was  pronounced  Antichrist  because  he  had  proclaimed  a 
crusade  against  Christians.  The  priests  in  the  cathedral 
denounced  Huss  in  terms  that  paled  the  cheeks  of  dark- 
ness. Huss  replied  firmly,  forcibly,  in  the  spirit  of  his 
Lord.  The  people  were  with  him,  the  papal  hierarchy 
was  arrayed  against  him.  The  breach  was  widening 
and  God  was  leading  his  own  by  a  way  they  knew  not. 


116  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Huss  also  vigorously  opposed  the  indulgences  by 
which  the  pontiff  would  carry  out  his  designs  against 
Ladislaus.  Palatz,  once  the  friend,  but  later  the  enemy 
and  accuser,  of  Huss  at  Constance,  regarded  the  in- 
dulgences of  John  XXIII.  as  a  matter  of  indifference. 
Huss  denounced  them  as  a  violation  of  divine  law  and  a 
dishonor  to  Christ.  He  said  with  great  feeling — and  in 
saying  it  broke  the  tie  which  had  bound  the  two  in  a 
cherished  friendship—  "  Palatz  is  my  friend,  truth  is  my 
friend,  and,  both  being  my  friends,  it  is  my  sacred  duty 
to  give  the  first  honor  to  truth." 

King  Wenzel  had  approved  the  papal  bull  and  in- 
dulgences, and  determined  to  terminate  the  opposition 
of  Huss  and  his  friends.  This  purpose  w^as  perhaps  the 
fruit  of  ]3ersonal  considerations  rather  than  of  any  in- 
telligent conviction  as  to  the  moral  questions  involved. 
But  there  were  many  who  had  listened  to  the  teachings 
in  the  Bethlehem  chapel  who  would  not  consent  to  the 
insult  to  Christ  and  his  truth  which  papal  indulgences 
inflicted  ;  and  one  day,  the  crowds  surging  to  and  fro  in 
the  chief  cathedral,  when  the  venders  of  these  pressed 
them  upon  the  people  with  blasphemous  importunity 
and  sought  to  magnify  their  benefit,  three  young  men 
shouted  their  denial  in  the  ears  of  the  sacrilegious  priest : 
"  Thou  liest !  Master  Huss  has  taught  us  better  than 
that."  They  were  seized,  imprisoned  and  condemned  to 
death.  Huss  pleaded  for  their  release.  Students  in  the 
university  came  in  throngs  demanding  the  same.  But 
the  headsman's  axe  ended  their  days.  It  was  a  solemn 
day  in  Prague.  The  heavens  seemed  robed  in  sackcloth. 
Some  thought  they  heard  the  sound  of  invisible  wings 
overhead,  dividing  the  gloom,  letting  down  a  little  of 


JOHN  HUSS:  EARLIER  LIFE  AND    WORK.     117 

Heaven's  light  on  the  path  of  God's  suifering  flock. 
The  martyrs  were  borne  to  the  Bethlehem  chapel.  Fu- 
neral dirges  were  sung  on  the  way  thither,  and  hymns 
of  confiding  trust  within  the  sheltering  walls.  Huss 
preached  with  great  tenderness,  and  a  holy  wrath  bided 
its  time  and  the  will  of  Him  whose  kingdom  ruleth 
over  all. 

Huss  so  arrayed  the  force  of  argument  and  of  his 
mighty  influence  against  the  whole  corrupting  system  of 
indulgences  that  he  was  gathering  the  fagots  for  his 
burning.  But  it  mattered  not.  He  was  prepared  at 
any  cost  to  defend  the  truth  and  honor  his  Master.  The 
spirit  of  reform  would  not  down  at  the  pope's  bidding ; 
floods  could  not  drown  nor  flames  consume  it.  It  was 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  It  breathed  in  the  very  air 
about  them.  It  sung  its  night-song  when  storms  gath- 
ered. It  climbed  to  the  summits  of  the  mountains,  and, 
turning  its  face  toward  the  east,  waited  for  the  breaking 
of  the  day.  "  It  will  come,"  said  Huss.  "  It  is  near," 
said  Jerome  of  Prague  ;  "  the  Lord  will  hasten  it  in  his 
time." 


< 


JOHN  HUSS  AND  THE  COUNCIL  OF 
CONSTi|NCE. 


i 


"  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimo7iy  ;  if  they  speak  ?iot  accord- 
ing to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  thefn.'' 

ISA.  8  :  20. 

"  The  Suprevie  Judge,  by  which  all  controversies  of  religion 
are  to  be  determined,  and  all  decrees  of  councils,  opinions  of 
ancient  ivriters,  doctrines  of  men,  and  private  spirits,  are  to 
be  examined,  and  in  whose  sentence  we  are  to  rest,  can  be  ?io 
other  but  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in  the  Scripture.'' 

Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  i.  sec.  x. 


JOHN  HUSS  AND  THE  COUNCIL  OF 

CONSTANCE. 


rpHE  city  of  Constance  is  situated  on  tlie  beautiful  lake 
-L  of  the  same  name,  and  belongs  at  present  to  the 
duchy  of  Baden,  having  been  ceded  by  Austria  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  At  the  time  of  which 
we  write  it  had  a  population  of  fifty  thousand,  but  its 
decadence  began  soon  after,  and  it  now  numbers  less  than 
seven  thousand  inhabitants.  The  general  topography  of 
Constance  and  the  contiguous  country  is  attractive — the 
peaceful  lake  on  the  one  side,  the  wooded  hills  dividing 
the  great  stretch  of  meadow-lands  on  the  other,  the 
Ehine  issuing  from  the  lake  forming  the  Unter  See  and 
flowing  through  historic  scenes  until  it  leaps  into  a  lower 
channel  at  the  Chute  du  Rhin,  passing  old  Schaffhausen 
on  its  way  to  the  Euglisli  Channel  and  the  Atlantic. 
We  pronounced  Constance,  the  central  feature  of  this 
scene,  as  we  saw  it  from  the  steamer's  deck,  a  singularly 
beautiful  city — its  broad  avenues  intersected  by  narrow 
streets,  its  venerable  churches  lifting  their  spires  among 
the  trees,  the  towers  of  the  great  miinster  rising  con- 
spicuously above  the  high  houses,  and  around  the  ancient 
town  meadows  and  orchards  that  seem  to  be  consciously 
at  rest  under  the  subdued  light  of  the  setting  day.  That 
quiet  scene  presented  a  marked  contrast  to  the  bustling 
city  of  Sigismund\s  reign  and  the  unseemly  strifes  that 

121 


122  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

kindled   the  fires  of  persecution  and  irrigated  the  soil 
with  human  blood. 

The  famous  Council  of  Constance  assembled  in 
November,  1414.  Its  primary  object,  an  unwitting  sub- 
version of  the  papacy,  was  to  declare  the  authority  of  gene- 
ral councils  superior  to  that  of  Roman  pontiffs,  but  it  was 
not  confined  to  its  original  purpose.  It  was  convened 
by  the  emperor,  and  John  XXIII.,  one  of  the  three 
rival  popes,  reluctantly  assented  to  the  summons.  The 
stately  pontiff,  fearing  the  action  of  the  council  as  re- 
lated to  his  supremacy,  yet  hoping  that  some  adventi- 
tious circumstance  might  establish  his  claim,  set  out  on 
his  journey  northward.  As  he  approached  the  city, 
catching  a  view  of  its  cathedral-towers  from  an  elevation 
whence  its  path  wound  its  way  into  the  valley,  he  ex- 
pressed a  presentiment  of  evil  which  had  oppressed  his 
spirit  along  the  way.  A  little  later  Sigismund,  the 
emperor,  accompanied  by  a  royal  train,  entered  Con- 
stance. On  the  11th  of  October,  John  Huss  left  Prague, 
resolved  to  appear  before  the  council,  let  the  result  be 
what  it  might,  the  emperor  pledging  his  royal  word  for 
the  security  of  his  person.  The  bishop  of  the  diocese 
had  previously  furnished  him  a  certificate  of  orthodoxy, 
given,  perhaps,  through  fear  of  the  people,  who  accounted 
Huss  such  a  prophet  as  John  the  Baptist.  Very  painful 
was  the  preacher's  departure  from  the  Bethlehem  chapel. 
Standing  on  the  little  square  not  far  from  his  own  door, 
he  looked  at  the  familiar  house  of  prayer  where,  with  oc- 
casional interruptions,  he  had  ministered  for  twelve  event- 
ful years.  His  soul  had  been  profoundly  stirred  as  he 
gazed  into  the  sea  of  faces  tliat  turned  toward  the  high  pul- 
pit and,  an  inquiring  multitude,  listened  as  for  their  lives. 


HUSS  AND   THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.      123 

The  farewell  to  his  chapel  trembled  on  his  lips  and  be- 
spoke the  depth  of  his  affection  for  the  flock.  The  great- 
est intellects  are  ordinarily  associated  with  the  greatest 
hearts.  Whilst  his  courage  did  not  fail  him  in  sight  of 
any  foe,  his  tender  love  to  his  people  shrank  from  parting 
words  which  he  feared  a  choked  utterance  would  obscure. 
Hence  he  wrote  them  a  message  which  breathed  forth 
his  tender  affection  and  confiding  trust :  "  Beloved,  if 
my  death  ought  to  contribute  to  the  Master's  glory, 
pray  that  it  may  come  quickly  and  that  he  may  enable 
me  to  support  all  my  calamities  with  constancy.  You 
will  probably  never  more  behold  my  face  at  Prague ; 
but  should  the  will  of  the  all-powerful  God  deign  to 
restore  me  to  you,  let  us  then  advance  with  a  firmer 
heart  in  the  knowledge  and  the  love  of  his  law.'^  He 
went  calmly  forth,  even  as  Paul  went  to  Jerusalem, 
prison-walls  frowning  upon  him.  He  went  as  grandly 
as  Martin  Luther  afterward  went  to  the  Diet  of  Worms. 

We  seem  to  follow  him  in  his  journeyings  southward. 
At  length  he  reaches  a  hill  which  affords  a  last  view  of 
Prague.  He  brushes  away  the  tears  that  he  may  see  it, 
the  city  through  which  flows  the  Moldau  covering  the 
heights  and  sitting  by  the  river-banks;  and  he  expe- 
riences sensations  more  sacred  than  those  which  strug- 
gled in  the  spirit  of  Mary  Stuart  when  she  caught, 
across  the  uneasy  waters,  her  final  view  of  the  France 
she  loved.  Then  he  addressed  himself  to  the  grander 
future.     He  had  left  his  dear  Prague  for  ever. 

The  days  go  on.  The  streets  of  Constance  are  crowded. 
John  the  pontiff,  Sigismund  the  emperor,  Huss  the  here- 
siarch  are  there.  Bishops,  archbishops,  cardinals  and 
nearly  two  thousand  priests  in  dark  robes  pass  to  and 


124  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

fro.  Margraves,  counts,  barous  and  hooded  knights 
■stand  apart  from  tlie  motley  crowd.  Electors  and 
dukes  and  men  whose  fame  has  crossed  the  Rliine 
impart  added  dignity  to  the  scene. 

At  first  Huss  was  unmolested.  Pope  John  had  de- 
clared that  a  hair  of  his  head  should  not  be  harmed. 
Like  Paul  who  preached  in  his  hired  house  at  Rome 
under  the  very  eaves  of  Nero's  palace,  the  Bohemian 
preached  Christ  and  holiness  to  those  who  came  to  his 
lodgings,  and  with  a  few  friends  maintained  daily  wor- 
ship in  the  sanctuary  of  his  temporary  home.  But  this 
quietness  was  not  for  long.  His  enemies  were  busy. 
They  even  foi-got  Benedict  and  Gregory  and  John  and 
the  unseendy  strife  among  the  pontiffs  in  their  hatred 
of  the  heretic  from  Prague.  He  was,  in  fact,  the  chief 
personage  in  Constance — a  greater  than  emperors  and 
popes.  His  name  shall  outlive  theirs,  and  his  influ- 
ence fill  a  broader  field.  The  spirit  of  persecution  in- 
creased. Placards  were  attached  to  the  walls  of  the 
houses  and  in  public  places  denouncing  the  enemy  of 
Rome  and  bidding  the  people  beware  of  his  teachings. 
An  excommunicated  lieretic  deserved  the  stake. 

The  council,  after  much  delay,  was  opened  on  Novem- 
ber 5th.  The  arrangements  for  the  impressive  initiative 
were  completed  with  the  early  dawn.  Then  the  bells  in 
all  the  church-towers  rang  out  the  signal  for  the  convo- 
cation. A  long  procession  of  ecclesiastical  dignitaries 
and  ordinary  priests  and  representatives  of  the  secular 
])ower  moved  along  the  streets  which  led  to  tlie  great 
munster.  The  cathedral  was  crowded  from  the  doors 
to  the  high  altar.  Confused  voices  blended  with  the 
sound  of  the  organ,  and  the  church-columns  cast  weird 


HUSS  AND    THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.      125 

shadows  over  the  scene.  None  could  forecast  the  future 
of  the  council  now  gathered  with  such  pomp  in  the 
catliedral  by  the  Rhine.  The  usual  prayers  were  offered 
and  a  sermon  was  preached.  Then  the  great  congrega- 
tion dispersed. 

On  the  16th  of  November  the  council  was  again  con- 
vened. One  of  the  cardinals  celebrated  mass.  John 
XXIII.  preached  a  sermon  from  Zech.  7  :  16  :  "Speak 
^e  every  man  the  truth  to  his  neighbor ;  execute  the 
judgment  of  truth  and  peace  in  your  gates.''  The  dis- 
course condemned  the  preacher.  He  was  by  no  means 
an  exponent  of  the  truth,  and  his  vices  were  notorious, 
whilst  his  personal  ambitions  trampled  on  every  essen- 
tial to  peace.  So  thought  many  who  listened  to  the 
words  of  the  pontiff  on  that  memorable  day.  Cardinal 
Zarabella  read  the  papal  bull  in  response  to  which  this 
council  was  then  convened. 

Whilst  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the  pope  to  the 
general  councils  of  the  Church  was  prominent,  involving 
the  right  of  John  XXIII.  to  occupy  the  papal  chair, 
this  pontiff  thouglit  his  own  interests  might  be  ultimate- 
ly subserved  by  diverting  the  attention  of  the  council, 
for  the  present,  to  the  case  of  IIuss  the  heretic.  A  zeal 
for  the  doctrinal  integrity  of  the  Church  might  strengthen 
the  position  of  John  and  give  him  an  advantage  over 
Benedict  and  Gregory,  his  rivals.  In  base  violation  of 
his  pledge  to  protect  the  Bohemian  he  instigated  pro- 
ceedings against  him. 

A  few  days  later  a  company  of  soldiers  might  have 
been  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  the  house  where  Huss  had 
his  lodgings.  They  were  prepared  to  arrest  the  heretic 
and  drag  him  before  his  inquisitors  in  case  he  should 


12(3  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

disregard  a  citation  al)(mt  to  be  presented.  Presentl}? 
four  men  appeared  who  inquired  for  Huss.  Their 
dress  and  bearing  indicated  the  significance  of  their 
errand.  The  mayor  of  the  city  was  accompanied  by 
two  bishops  and  a  knight.  They  informed  Huss  that 
^•rave  charges  of  heresy  had  been  preferred  against  him, 
and  that  he  was  cited  to  appear  at  once  before  the  po})e 
and  cardinals  to  make  answer  to  the  same.  He  oifered 
no  resistance.  A  horse  had  been  provided  for  his  con- 
veyance to  the  place  of  trial.  He  mounted  into  the 
saddle  and  rode  away.  John  de  Chlum,  his  friend  and 
})rotector,  attended  him  to  tlie  episcopal  palace.  Several 
interviews  were  held  Avith  the  cardinal  and  his  accusers. 
At  length  eight  definite  charges  were  formulated  and 
presented.  They  may  be  concisely  stated  as  embra- 
cing a  denial  of  transubstantiation  ;  of  the  right  of  a 
priest  living  in  flagrant  sin  to  administer  the  holy  sac- 
raments; of  the  assumption  that  the  hierarchy  is  the 
true  Church ;  of  any  advantage  accruing  to  the  spirit- 
ual body  as  the  representative  of  the  truth  from  its 
support  by  the  state;  of  the  official  superiority  of 
bishops ;  of  the  power  of  the  keys  as  vested  in  a  cor- 
rupt Church ;  and  that,  whilst  he  denied  these  essential 
features  of  the  doctrinal  system  and  probity  of  Rome, 
he  had  disregarded  the  authority  of  the  Church  as  re- 
hited  to  his  excommunication,  and  had  continued  with- 
out intermission  to  discharge  the  functions  of  the  priest- 
ly office.  He  was  also  represented  to  be  the  inciter  of 
seditions,  a  disturber  of  the  peace  and  the  persistent 
advocate  of  errors  not  enumerated  in  the  charges  pre- 
ferred against  him,  usually  denoniinated  Wyclifian, 
originated  by  the  arch-heretic  of  England.     This  latter 


HUSS  AND   THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.     127 

statement  was  vague,  but  it  was  calculated  to  iuflame 
the  public  mind  and  secure  the  condemnation  of  Huss. 
John  Huss  was  a  Realist,  as  was  Wyclif.  Eealism 
was  supposed  to  be  antagonistic  to  the  Church.  It 
struck  at  the  authority  of  pontiffs  and  councils,  whilst 
it  held  that  the  Bible  was  the  sole  as  it  is  the  sufficient 
rule  of  faith  and  conduct.  The  head  and  front  of  this 
Bohemian's  offence  was  his  disregard  of  that  authority. 
He  was  ever  asking,  What  does  the  word  of  God  teach  ? 
Papal  infallibility  went  down  before  the  revelation  which 
came  from  heaven.  As  to  the  distinction  between  Real- 
ism and  Nominalism,  the  council  at  Constance  did  not 
have  a  clear  conception.  Both  these  systems  of  philos- 
ophy were  occupied  with  the  subject  of  general  ideas  in 
opposition  to  particular  things,  which  are  constantly 
changing  and  cannot  furnish  a  basis  for  a  natural  science. 
The  Realists  held  that  general  ideas  or  things  have  a 
real  existence ;  so  Plato  had  taught  and  the  leading 
philosophers  of  his  day.  The  Nominalists  insisted  that 
general  ideas  are  only  names  or  words ;  so  taught  Aris- 
totle and  Porphyry.  The  Realists  were  more  numerous 
and  influential  than  the  Nominalists.  The  controversy 
between  them  was  severe.  When  argument  failed  they 
resorted  to  the  sword.  Neither  party  seemed  to  have  a 
clear  conception  of  the  subject-matter  of  their  dispute. 
The  playful  description  of  the  dialectician  of  an  earlier 
century,  as  given  by  John  of  Salisbury,  was  quite  ap- 
plicable to  the  time  of  Huss.  The  sagacious  and  sera- 
phic philosopher  "  is  prepared  to  solve  the  old  question 
about  genera  and  species ;  and  while  he  is  laboring  upon 
it  the  universe  becomes  old ;  more  time  is  consumed 
upon  it  than  the  Caesars  spent  in  conquering  and  subdu- 


i.28  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

ing  the  world  ;  more  money  is  expended  than  all  the 
wealth  which  Croesus  ever  possessed.  For  this  subject 
has  occupied  many  so  long  that,  after  consuming  their 
whole  lives  upon  it,  they  have  not  understood  either  that 
or  anything  else."  It  was  enough  for  the  council  to 
know  that  Huss  accepted  Realism.  For  that  he  must  be 
condemned. 

It  was  also  alleged  that  Huss  had  adopted  the  teaching 
of  Jacobellus,  a  priest  of  St.  Michael's  church  in  Prague, 
respecting  the  giving  of  the  cup  to  the  laity  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Matthias  of  Janow  had 
condemned  the  withholding  of  the  cup,  and  Jacobellus 
had  probably  received  his  impressions  from  Matthias, 
whose  influence  upon  the  religious  thought  of  his  age  was 
widespread  and  potential.  Huss  insisted  that  there  was 
no  warrant  in  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper  or  in 
apostolic  usage  for  denying  the  cup  to  the  laity,  as  was 
the  custom  of  the  Romish  Church.  This  seems,  at 
first  view,  a  matter  of  little  importance.  But  it  in- 
volved a  grave  principle.  It  was  an  exercise  of  private 
judgment,  which  was  a  contravention  of  an  established 
order  and  was  regarded  as  contempt  of  the  infallible 
Church.  Rome  had  settled  all  questions  concerning 
the  Eucharist,  and  the  expression  of  even  an  opinion 
on  the  subject  could  not  be  tolerated.  John  Huss, 
it  was  alleged,  deserved  the  severest  condemnation  of 
the  Church  he  had  insulted  and  in  which  his  teach- 
ings were  calculated  to  create  a  dangerous  schism. 
This  a])peal  from  pontifical  ruling  to  the  word  of 
God  and  independent  interpretations  of  it  was  the  en- 
trance of  a  wedge  wliich  ultimately  divided  the  Church. 
The  sagacious   priesthood  discerned  the  significance  of 


BU&S  AND   THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.      129 

the  apparently  uuimportant  iuiiovation,  aucl  pronounced 
its  author  a  dangerous  heretic* 

The  seutiment  against  tlie  Bohemian  was  a  resistless 
flood.  Whatev^er  was  mythical  and  real  was  submerged 
by  it.  Trivial  things  were  magnified.  The  molehill 
became  a  mountain.  Things  that  Avere  not  understood 
were  construed  as  opposition  to  the  authority  to  which 
independent  judgment  should  bow.  The  mock  trial 
went  on.  After  a  few  days  Huss  was  sent  to  the  prison 
of  the  Dominican  monastery  on  an  island  near  the  foot 
of  the  lake,  a  loathsome  place,  under  the  yssdh  of  which 
flowed  the  sewage  of  the  city.  The  prison  remains  to 
this  day.  It  was  an  act  of  cruelty  which  all  Christen- 
dom has  ever  since  condemned.  No  appeal  to  pope, 
cardinals  or  the  populace  was  sufficient  to  secure  his 
release. 

In  the  following  May,  Pope  John  was  deposed.  The 
reasons  for  this  action  of  the  council  were  obviously 
sufficient.  It  .was  alleged  thiit  he  was  '^the  supporter 
of  iniquity,  the  defender  of  simonists,  the  enemy  of  all 
virtue,  the  slave  of  lasciviousness,  a  devil  incarnate  " — 
a  most  unworthy  successor  of  St.  Peter ;  and  this  fact 
raises  the  question  whether  the  apostolic  succession,  if 
unbroken  until  then,  could  continue  itself  through  such 

*Justherean  important  statement  deserves  record.  The  council 
had  admitted  the  use  of  both  kinds,  the  bread  and  the  cup,  in  the 
primitive  Church,  but  added  that  the  Romish  Church  had  condennied 
the  giving  of  the  cup  to  the  laity.  Now,  observe  that  in  doing  this 
it  had  arrayed  itself  against  Christ,  who  instituted  the  Supper.  It  had 
exalted  itself  above  God.  This  is  a  significant  fact,  and  declares  the 
blasphemous  attitude  of  the  Church  of  Kome.  Huss  accepted  Christ 
as  his  teacher,  not  the  pope,  not  the  councils  of  the  Church  :  for  this 
he  must  die. 


130  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

a  pontiff  as  John  XXIII.  In  anticipation  of  the  de- 
cision of  the  council,  the  pope  fled  in  disguise  from  Con- 
stance and  gathered  a  few  friends  in  anxious  conference 
at  Schaffhausen.  Then  followed  his  imprisonment  and 
formal  deposition,  and  the  pope  was  cast  off  as  an  ol)ject 
of  inexpressible  loathing,  whilst  not  one  of  all  who  had 
once  bowed  the  knee  to  this  so-called  vicar  of  Christ 
remained  to  do  him  reverence. 

But  this  procedure  against  John  brought  no  relief  to 
Huss.  He  was  carried  in  chains  to  the  castle  of  Gott- 
lieben.  Again,  he  was  removed  to  the  Franciscan  con- 
vent in  Constance.  He  was  repeatedly  summoned  be- 
fore the  council.  The  men  who  had  condemned  John 
XXIII.  might  have  been  expected  to  sympathize  with 
Huss.  They  had  denounced  the  corruptions  that  en- 
tered the  Church  ;  they  had  condemned  the  strife  of  the 
rival  popes  who  jostled  each  other  in  the  effort  to  gratify 
an  unholy  ambition ;  they  had  humiliated  John  and 
cried  aloud  for  general  reform  in  high  places  and  in  low. 
But  they  were  as  resolute  in  their  determination  to  sup- 
press heresy.  Huss  was  a  heretic.  He  must  die. 
Wherein  was  he  a  heretic?  Huss  repeatedly  declared 
his  loyalty  to  the  Church.  He  even  accepted  transub- 
stantiation  as  a  scriptural  dogma.  He  believed  in  the 
Trinity.  He  was  in  accord  ^vith  the  teachings  of 
Athanasius  and  Augustine.  He  had  said,  '^  I  am  ready, 
with  all  my  heart,  to  fulfill  the  apostolical  mandates ;"  but 
(he  had  added)  '^  I  call  apostolical  mandates  the  doctrines 
of  the  apostles  of  Christ ;  and  so  far  as  the  papal  man- 
dates agree  with  these,  so  far  will  I  obey  them  most 
willingly.  But  if  I  see  anything  in  them  at  variance 
with  these,  I  shall    not  obey,   even   though   the  stake 


HUSS  AND   THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.      131 

were  staring  me  in  the  face."  He  was  not  so  far  re- 
moved from  Romanism  as  was  Wyclif,  but  he  followed 
close  after  him,  and  had  he  lived  a  decade  longer  he 
might  have  been  as  advanced  a  Reformer  as  his  great 
teacher  across  the  Channel. 

His  real  offence  is  well  stated  to  have  been  his  com- 
plaint against  the  immorality  of  the  priests  and  his  un- 
willingness to  accept  the  decisions  of  councils  when  out 
of  harmony  with  the  word  of  God.  He  was  a  Bible 
Christian.  He  planted  his  feet  on  the  sacred  Scriptures 
as  on  a  rock  which  had  defied  the  violence  of  storms  and 
the  wear  of  waves.  He  exalted  Christ  above  the  pope, 
and  determined,  whatever  pontiffs  and  councils  might 
require,  to  glory  only  in  the  cross.  He  was  a  Protestant, 
although  the  name  was  as  yet  unknown.  He  bore  the 
torch  of  divine  truth,  and  when  his  course  was  run  he 
handed  it  down  to  the  miner  of  Eisleben,  who  led  God's 
sacramental  host  in  the  light  thereof  into  the  Land  of 
Promise. 

The  council  met  in  the  cathedral.  A  surging  mass  of 
human  beings  crowded  every  available  space.  Sigismund 
was  present ;  Robert  Hallem  was  there.  Both  the  dig- 
nitaries of  the  Church  and  the  representatives  of  the 
secular  power  had  been  summoned  to  condemn  the 
Bohemian,  whose  integrity  of  life  and  beauty  of  char- 
acter none  could  honestly  dispute. 

The  long  array  of  charges  was  proclaimed,  and  Huss 
attempted  to  give  an  answer  to  each  accusation.  The 
council  listened  or  commanded  silence  as  best  suited  its 
purpose.  Some  of  the  charges  were  wholly  false  ;  some 
were  true  and  honored  the  accused.  His  enemies  found 
nothing  in  him  worthy  of  death.     But  they  could  not 


132  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

be  deflected  from  their  purpose.  He  must  burn  at  the 
stake.  He  was  arrayed  in  priestly  robes,  holding  a 
chalice,  as  if  about  to  perform  the  functions  of  his  high 
office.  The  rabble  mocked  him.  Priests  applauded. 
The  designated  officials  took  from  him  the  chalice,  de- 
claring him  a  Judas  who  had  sold  his  Lord.  Then  they 
stripped  him  of  his  sacerdotal  robes,  uttering  curses 
loud  and  deep.  He  meekly  replied  that  he  could  readily 
bear  the  intended  degradation  for  the  truth  and  the  Mas- 
ter's sake.  On  his  head  they  placed  a  paper  crown  cov- 
ered with  pictures  of  devils,  and  devoted  his  soul  to  the 
prince  of  darkness,  whilst  he  commended  himself  to  his 
most  merciful  Master,  Jesus  Christ.  On  the  crown  they 
wrote  his  accusation,  "  Heresiarch.'^  He  bore  each  in- 
dignity with  a  holy  meekness  and  thought  of  his  Lord 
who  for  him  bore  a  "  far  rougher  and  weightier  crown 
of  thorns." 

When  his  degradation  was  completed  the  Church  com- 
mitted him  to  the  secular  power.  Sigismund  gave  him 
into  the  hands  of  the  elector  palatine,  and  the  latter 
transferred  him  to  the  mayor  of  Constance,  who  directed 
the  executioners  to  carry  out  the  sentence  of  death  even 
to  its  minutest  details.  The  officers  of  the  elector  led 
Huss  out  of  the  miinster.  A  company  of  armed  men 
surrounded  him  and  an  excited  multitude  followed.  The 
route  was  circuitous,  for  the  procession  must  needs  pass 
the  episcopal  residence,  in  the  vicinity  of  which  the 
writings  of  the  Bohemian  were  to  be  burned.  Then  they 
passed  down  \\\q  long  street  which  led  them  through  the 
Oottlieben  gate  into  the  open  meadow.  Crossing  an 
open  space  and  through  the  scanty  orchards,  they  came 
to  the  place  of  execution.     Tlie  stake  was  erected  and 


BUSS  AND   THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.      133 

the  fagots  were  gathered.  Huss  fell  upon  his  knees  and 
prayed,  breathing  his  souFs  desire  in  the  inspired  words 
of  the  Psalmist,  repeatedly  saying  with  holy  fervor, 
"  Into  thy  hands,  O  Lord,  I  commend  my  spirit/'  They 
who  stood  by  were  deeply  moved  by  the  manner  and 
speech  of  the  man  who  dared  to  die  rather  than  be  un- 
true to  God  and  to  himself  The  executioners  then  bound 
him  Avith  a  chain,  placed  about  his  neck,  to  the  stake. 
Addressing  the  multitude  about  him,  Huss  said  :  "  The 
chief  aim  of  my  preachiug  was  to  teach  men  repentance 
and  the  forgiveness  of  sins  according  to  the  truth  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ ;  therefore  I  am  prepared  to  die  with 
joyful  soul.''  His  thoughts  were  divided  between  his  dear 
church  in  Prague,  to  w^hich  he  had  sent  messages  of  love, 
and  the  Church  on  high,  to  which  he  was  soon  to  be 
joined.  Then  the  fagots  were  kindled.  As  the  flames 
leapt  upward  he  sang  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Jesus,  Son  of 
the  living  God,  have  mercy  upon  me."  Again  he  re- 
peated the  same  words.  A  third  time  he  assayed  to 
raise  the  trustful  prayer,  but  with  the  sweet  name  of 
Jesus  on  his  lips  his  utterance  ceased,  and  John  Huss 
was  with  his  Lord,  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troub- 
ling and  the  weary  are  at  rest.  Then  the  executioners 
gathered  his  ashes  and  cast  them  into  the  Rhine,  and  the 
Rhine  bore  them  to  the  sea,  and  the  sea  hung  :ts  b  )w 
of  hope  in  the  sky. 

One  year  later  Jerome  of  Prague  died  for  the  truth's 
sake  on  the  same  spot,  and  to-day  a  great  stone,  brought 
from  a  distance,  marks  the  place  in  the  clover-field 
whence  chariots  of  fire  bore  the  two  Bohemian  saints  to 
the  home  above. 

But   though   dead  they   live.     The   Reformation    in 


134  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

Gerinany  was  the  fruitage  of  the  Reformation  which 
Huss,  under  God,  inaugurated  in  Bohemia.  The 
Church  he  formed  has  continued,  through  varied  ex- 
periences, in  an  unbroken  succession  of  believers  until 
the  present. 

Shortly  after  his  death  the  followers  of  Huss  Avere 
divided  into  two  parties,  the  Calixtins  and  the  Taborites. 
The  former,  who  took  their  name  from  calix,  a  cup,  be- 
cause they  insisted  on  the  administration  of  the  Supper 
in  both  kinds,  were  unwilling  to  separate  themselves 
from  the  Romish  Church.  But  the  Taborites,  who 
took  their  designation  from  a  mountain  on  which  they 
had  Avorshiped,  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  the 
formation  of  a  religious  organization  which  should  be 
a  protest  against  the  corruptions  of  Rome  and  a  refuge 
for  the  oppressed.  After  the  death  of  Wenzel  political 
differences  arose.  Sigismund,  the  brother  of  the  deceased 
emperor,  claimed  the  right  of  succession  to  the  throne. 
But  he  was  the  friend  of  Rome  and  had  basely  sur- 
rendered Huss  to  his  enemies.  Besides  all  this,  he  had 
declared  himself  entirely  opposed  to  the  principles  of 
reform  in  Church  and  State  which  the  Hussites  main- 
tained and  would  carry  out  to  their  legitimate  results. 
The  people  defied  his  authority.  They  would  escape 
the  tyranny  he  proposed  or  die  in  the  attempt  to  termi- 
nate his  power.  At  Kuttenberg  two  ambassadors  whom 
they  had  sent  to  negotiate  terms  of  peace  were  brutally 
murdered,  and  four  thousand  Taborites  subsequently 
shared  a  similar  fate.  At  Leitmeritz  twenty-four  lead- 
ing citizens  were  seized,  bound  with  ropes  and  cast  into 
the  river — a  culmination  in  cruelty  which  had  a  parallel 
nearly  two  centuries  later  when  in  the  Grosse  Ring,  a 


IWSS  AND   THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.      135 

public  square  in  Prague,  near  the  site  of  Bethlehem 
chapel,  twenty-seven  Protestant  Bohemians  were  be- 
headed, passing  in  slow  procession  under  a  flashing 
sword  which  is  still  preserved,  and  their  heads  carried 
to  one  of  the  towers  of  Carlsbriicke,  or  Charles's  Bridge, 
where  for  ten  years  they  were  exhibited  to  passers-by, 
who  jeered  or  wept  as  they  beheld  the  ghastly  sight. 
The  Hussites  of  the  fifteenth  century  were  just  coming 
from  under  the  shadow  of  the  papal  hierarchy.  They 
\\ere  often  unwise,  not  being  as  yet  emancipated  from 
the  control  of  Romish  principles  which  led  to  brutal 
deeds,  and  their  attitude  of  resistance  to  autocratic  rule 
provoked  imperial  displeasure.  Then  Sigismund  issued 
tlie  call  to  arms.  Germany  clasped  hands  witli  Pome, 
and  they  massed  their  united  forces.  The  extinction  of 
heresy  and  the  liberties  of  Bohemia  seemed  assured. 
The  Bohemians  looked  to  God  for  succor  and  girded 
themselves  for  the  strife.  They  were  led  to  battle  by 
the  one-eyed  Ziska,  one  of  the  greatest  generals  known 
to  history,  who,  when  entirely  blind,  saw  more  than  the 
most  of  warriors  with  two  eyes.  He  seemed  endowed 
with  a  supernatural  vision,  and  directed  his  armies  with 
a  peerless  skill,  and  so  inspired  them  with  his  own  prow- 
ess that  they  were  never  known  to  turn  their  backs  to  a 
foe.  Singing  their  favorite  battle-hymn,  ''  Ye  warriors  of 
God  our  Lord,''  they  went  forth  to  the  fight.  Sigismund 
suffered  inglorious  defeat.  The  hills  of  Bohemia  caught 
the  shout  of  the  victors,  and  bore  it  down  the  valleys. 
But  it  was  not  long  until  Ziska  was  stricken  down  by 
the  pestilence  and  went  to  his  grave.  The  people 
mourned  his  untimely  death  and  refused  to  be  com- 
forted.    Near  his  tomb   may   be  seen    the    inscription, 

10 


136  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

"O  Huss,  here  reposes  John  Ziska  thy  avenger,  and 
the  emperor  himself  has  quailed  before  him." 

Again  Sigismuud  gathered  an  imposing  army  two 
hundred  thousand  strong.  Germany  was  proud  of  her 
stalwart  braves.  The  emperor  was  confident  of  success. 
The  Bohemians  were,  in  comparison,  an  insignificant 
army.  Now  liberty  and  heresy  will  surely  go  down. 
Instead  of  Ziska  was  Procop — inferior  in  some  respects 
to  his  great  master,  but  not  unworthy  the  mantle  the 
invincible  general  had  bequeathed  him.  The  two  armies 
met  near  the  walls  of  Toplitz.  The  Goliath  of  the 
North  mocked  the  armies  of  Bohemia.  A  brief  advan- 
tage secured  by  Sigismund's  forces  was  succeeded  by  the 
hasty  flight  of  his  broken  columns,  the  Hussites  pursu- 
ing them  over  the  long  swaths  of  their  dead.  The 
spirit  of  Ziska  seemed  to  ride  in  his  triumphal  chariot 
as  in  other  days. 

Then  came  a  pause  in  the  strife,  and  the  smoke  of 
battle  disappeared.  The  dead  were  numbered  and  the 
living  tested  their  strength.  Rome  was  troubled.  The 
Bohemians  seem  unconquerable.  Messages  were  sent  to 
Sigismuud,  and  pledges  of  enlarged  support.  The 
Church  gathered  her  forces  from  near  and  from  afar. 
Cardinal  Cessarini  exchanged  the  red  hat  for  a  helmet 
and  the  shepherd's  crook  for  a  sword.  The  aid  of  our 
Lady  the  Holy  ISIother  was  invoked,  and  the  papal 
benediction  was  2:iven.  Bohemia  was  again  on  the 
defensive,  and  loyalty  to  flitherland,  forgetting  all  re- 
ligious differences  and  conscious  of  right,  advanced  to 
meet  the  enemv.  Cessarini  led  his  forces  through  the 
forests  of  Bohemia  on  the  west,  expecting  to  crush  the 
defiant  foe.     But   in   the   first  shock   of  battle  he   was 


HUSS  AND    THE  COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.      137 

driven  back.  A  second  time  he  was  repulsed.  The 
Bohemians  pursued  the  retreating  armies  and  thousands 
perished.  The  cardinal  was  humiliated  and  his  forces 
demoralized.  No  appeal  could  rally  them  to  a  fresh 
attack.  No  entreaty  of  the  pope  could  persuade  Ces- 
sarini  to  further  conflict.  Then  followed  diplomatic  in- 
trigues by  which  Sigismund  hoped  to  extinguish  heresy 
and  secure  the  throne.  The  demands  of  the  Hussites 
were  granted  in  part,  and  the  Calixtins  joined  with 
the  Romanists  in  receiving  Sigismund  as  the  emperor 
of  Bohemia.  But  it  was  soon  apparent  that  imperial 
pledges  were  valueless,  and  the  Taborites,  who  composed 
what  may  be  termed  the  Protestant  element,  determined 
upon  another  effort  to  secure  the  liberty  for  which  so 
many  of  their  brethren  had  died.  But  their  allies,  the 
Calixtins,  had  deserted  them.  One  of  their  own  gener- 
als proved  a  traitor.  The  opposing  army  overwhelmed 
them  and  Bohemia  was  yoked  to  the  imperial  car.  It 
had  been  better  if  the  Hussites  had  trusted  less  in  carnal 
weapons,  and  more,  as  they  afterward  did,  in  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God.  Yet  many  be- 
lieve that  they  have  been,  in  a  measure  at  least,  unjust- 
ly condemned  for  their  resort  to  arms.  They  were  not, 
in  fact,  the  otfensiv^e  party.  Sigismund  inaugurated  the 
contest,  and  the  pope  aided  it.  It  was  not  until  the 
Taborites  discovered  the  perfidy  of  the  emperor  the 
Calixtins  had  accepted  that  they  assumed  the  offensive 
and  resisted  the  encroachments  of  a  powerful  and  un- 
scrupulous enemy — the  man  who  had  broken  his  royal 
word  with  John  Huss,  and  would  rejoice  in  the  exter- 
mination of  all  who  dared  support  the  principles  in 
defence  of  which  the  Bohemian  had  died. 


iTxS  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Through  changeful  experiences  of  hope  and  fear,  of 
quiet  and  persecution,  the  disciples  of  the  martyred  Huss 
held  on  their  way.     Banished  from  home,  hunted  like 
•  beasts  of  prey,  preparing  their  food  and  reading  their 
Bibles  and  singing  their  plaintive  psalms  in  the  depth 
of  night  whilst  their  enemies  slept,  they  proved  their 
devotion  to  truth  and  godliness  by  the  trials  they  en- 
dured.   Waldensian  exiles,  crossing  the  Austrian  bound- 
ary after  the  burning  of  Stephen  their  beloved  bishop, 
associated  themselves  with  their  Bohemian  brethren,  and 
later  still  with  equally  devoted  Moravians,  under  Count 
Zinzendorf,  added  another  tributary  to  the  widening  cur- 
rent of  the  Reformed  religion.    These  elements,  gathered 
from  different  parts  of  Central  Europe,  consecrated  to 
God  in  a  baptism  of  fire,  gaining  clearer  apprehensions 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ  as  the  years  went  on,  maintain- 
ing a  simple  and  spiritual  worship  closely  conformed  to 
that  of  apostolic  times,   and  adopting  a  church   polity 
essentially  representative,  kindled  their  watchfires  amid 
the  mountain-fastnesses  and  waited  for  the  salvation  of 
God.     They  were  Protestant  Christians.     They  rebuked 
tlie  corruptions  of  Rome  by  their  holy  living.     They 
bore  testimony  to  the  glory  of  Christ  as  the  only  Saviour 
of  sinners,  the  only  Head  of  the  Church,  the  Comforter 
of  the  weary  and  the  unerring  Guide  to  the  saints'  ever- 
lasting rest.     The  persecuted  believers  who  worshiped  at 
Lititz  and  built  their  simple  chapels  along  the  borders 
of  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  conveying  the  sweet  evangel 
to  their  descendants,   who   gave  it  to    the  generations 
following,    known    to-day  as   the    Moravian    Brethren, 
eminent  for  piety  and  devotion    to    Bible  truth,   their 
mission-stations  reaching  from  the  equator  to  the  Arctic 


HUSS  AXIJ   THE  COUNCIL    OF  CONSTANCE.      139 

pole,  their  zeal  stimiilHtiiig  the  zeal  of  every  branch  of 
the  Reformed  Church, — are  in  an  important  sense  the 
spiritual  children  of  John  Huss,  his  crown  of  glory,  an 
infinite  indemnification  for  all  his  sufferings  which  shall 
shine  with  ever-increasing  lustre  whilst  eternity  endures. 


Sfi^RTIN  LUTHER. 


^'  For  the  mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  wor/i:  only  he 
who  now  letteth  will  let,  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way. ' ' 

2  Thess.  2  :  7. 

"  Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  only?'' 

Mark  2  : 7. 

' '  God  doth  continue  to  forgive  the  sins  of  those  that  are  justi- 
fied:  a7id  although  they  can  never  fall  from  the  state  of  justi- 
fication, yet  they  may  by  their  si^is  fall  under  God' s fatherly 
displeasure,  a?id  not  have  the  light  of  his  countenance  restored 
2mto  them,  until  they  hu7nble  themselves,  confess  their  sins,  beg 
pardon,  a7id  renew  their  faith  and  repentance'' 

Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  xi.  sec.  v. 


MARTIN  LUTHER. 


A  FTER  the  conversion  of  Constantine  the  Great 
-^-^  religion  adapted  itself  to  its  worldly  eminence 
and  lost  its  spiritual  power.  The  decadence  of  piety 
continued  until  the  last  vestige  was  ready  to  disappear. 
The  Dark  Ages  grew  darker,  the  worldliness  of  the 
Church  increased  and  the  corruptions  of  the  clergy 
became  more  complete  as  time  advanced.  Now  and 
then  a  Wyclif  or  Tyndall,  a  Huss  or  a  Savonarola, 
bore  aloft  the  torch  of  truth,  but  it  only  made  the 
darkness  more  apparent.  The  ecclesiastical  hierarchy 
of  the  fifteenth  century  was  the  servant  of  sin.  The 
Church  was  an  oiFensive  sepulchre,  full  of  dead  men's 
bones. 

Then  God  appeared  upon  the  scene.  The  world 
needed  him,  was  lost  without  him.  The  truth  must 
be  recovered,  primitive  piety  restored  and  the  Church 
regenerated  by  power  from  above.  But  it  is  God's 
plan  to  work  through  intermediate  agencies  and  to 
employ  the  least  promising.  As  Jesus  at  the  first 
sought  his  apostles  among  the  fishing-boats  that  skirted 
the  Galilean  lake,  so  now  he  seeks  among  the  humble 
that  man  by  whom  his  Church  shall  arise.  And  to-day 
the  student  of  history  says,  as  did  the  mother  of  our 
Lord,  ^' He  hath  put  down  the  mighty  fiom  their  seats, 
and  exalted  them  of  low  degree." 

143 


144  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

There  is  no  name  so  familiar  to  the  Christian  world 
of  latter  ages,  and  so  revered  by  it,  no  name  whi(.h  has 
been  so  great  a  power  in  the  wide  domain  of  religious 
thought  and  life,  as  that  which  for  four  centuries  has 
been  associated  more  generally  than  any  gther  with 
the  great  Reformation — a  name  which  is  the  synonym 
of  moral  heroism,  the  watchword  of  the  Christian 
Church  and  the  pledge  of  glorious  triumphs  in  the 
ages  yet  to  come.  All  Christendom  is  to-day  turning 
over  the  leaves  of  history  that  it  may  fix  its  eyes  where 
its  thoughts  and  heart  have  been — upon  the  name  which 
graces  the  most  lustrous  page  of  that  record  which  mag- 
nifies the  grace  and  power  of  God. 

It  may  be  well  to  notice  here  some  of  the  errors  which 
the  Reformation  discovered  and  renounced  :  the  denial 
of  private  judgment,  the  corruption  of  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith,  and  a  system  of  indulgences,  all  of 
which  continue  until  the  present  in  the  Roman  Church. 

1.  In  the  Romish  Church  authority  virtually  rested  in 
the  pope,  speaking  ex  cathedra.  He  was  and  is  the  truth. 
He  interpreted  the  Scriptures,  making  them  to  accord 
with  the  historic  faith  of  the  Church.  He  appealed  to 
other  sources  of  belief,  such  as  tradition  and  apocryphal 
books  and  the  decretals  of  councils,  and  compelled  as- 
sent to  his  dictum  as  based  upon  them,  or  anathematized 
the  recalcitrant.  No  loyal  Romanist  was  permitted  to 
exercise  his  reason  or  interpret  the  word  of  God  in  op- 
position to  the  Roman  pontiff.  If  the  pope,  as  pope, 
said  that  two  and  two  made  six,  that  the  prismatic 
colors  were  a  mere  figment  of  the  imagination,  that  a 
wafer  was  the  actual  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  he  was 
to  be  believed  thouo;li  the  testimonv  of  the  senses  and  of 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  145 

consciousness  were  against  his  declarations.  Intelligence 
was  set  aside ;  private  judgment  was  forbidden.  Reason 
and  conscience  were  mere  vassals  and  bent  the  knee  to 
papal  authority.  Then^  evidently,  the  pope  was  the  Lord 
of  the  conscience  and  held  the  keys  of  heaven  and  hell. 
It  may  be  a  relief  to  mental  indolence  and  imbecility 
to  permit  a  spiritual  autocrat  to  take  the  soul  into  his 
custody,  think  for  it,  direct  its  faith  and  conduct  it  into 
the  infinite  hereafter.  But  that  were  to  imperil  every 
interest  in  both  worlds,  and  to  degrade  man  to  the  level 
of  the  irrational  brute  bound  to  the  master's  crib. 

It  was  Luther's  advocacy  of  private  judgment — that 
which  elevates  man  to  whom  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty 
has  given  understanding,  which  imparts  a  sense  of  per- 
sonal accountability  to  God,  which  impresses  the  obliga- 
tion to  search  the  Scriptures  that  reveal  all  duty,  the  only 
rational  ground  of  hope  and  the  way  of  life — that  more 
than  anything  else  roused  the  indignation  of  Rome,  since 
it  smote  down  the  proud  assumptions  of  the  hierarchy 
and  released  the  people  from  its  spiritual  autonomy. 

2.  The  prevailing  system  of  indulgences  was  a  source 
of  power  which  Rome  utilized.  It  furnished  ofttimes 
the  only  solution  for  financial  difficulties,  and  enabled 
the  hierarchy  to  surround  itself  with  greater  pomp  and 
splendor  than  were  possessed  by  earthly  courts  which 
were  its  servants.  The  Church  taught  that  Christ  had 
made  such  satisfaction  for  sin  that  believers  were  released 
from  its  eternal  punishment.  Their  ultimate  enthrone- 
ment with  God  was  assured.  But  the  sacrifice  of  Christ 
did  not  remove  the  temporal  consequences  of  wrong- 
doing. Believers  were  subject  to  the  rod  as  long  as 
they  lived.     They  might  accumulate  guilt  which  would 


146  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

prolong  their  sufferiugs  in  the  world  of  spirits  even 
until  tlie  day  of  judgment.  This  punishment,  present 
and  purgatorial,  might  be  mitigated  or  arrested  by  pen- 
ances and  works  prescribed  by  the  Church,  by  fastings, 
prayers,  pilgrimages,  wearing  of  haircloth  and  spiked 
girdles  and  by  severe  menial  service. 

This  end  might  be  reached  in  another  way.  The 
payment  of  money  to  the  Church  was  accepted  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  penances  and  meritorious  works.  These  con- 
tributions secured  an  appropriation  of  the  works  of 
supererogation  performed  by  others.  The  sources  were 
two  :  (1)  The  superabundant  merits  of  Christ.  Cardinal 
Cajetan  in  the  Diet  of  Augsburg  declared  the  faith  of 
the  Church  respecting  the  value  of  Christ's  death.  One 
drop  of  his  blood  would  have  been  a  sufficient  satisfac- 
tion for  sin.  But  his  sacrifice  exceeded  the  legal  de- 
mand. This  excess  was  a  wealth  of  merit  on  which  the 
pope — and,  under  him,  the  priesthood — might  dr^w; 
and  this  being  imputed  to  the  purchaser,  he  was  released 
from  the  obligation  to  temporal  punishment  in  this  life, 
and  it  brought  early  release  from  purgatorial  sufferings. 
By  this  theory  the  supererogatory  merits  of  Christ^% 
sacrifice  and  penances  prescribed  by  priests  were  put  on 
the  same  level,  and  the  oifender  could  make  his  election. 
Tlie  application  of  the  former,  involving  a  pecuniary  con- 
sideration, was  preferred  alike  by  the  Church  and  by  the 
subject  who  availed  himself  of  it.  The  works  of  super- 
erogation performed  by  the  saints  were  included  in  the 
same  category.  It  was  possible  to  do  more  and  to  be 
holier  than  God  required,  and  this  redundance  inured 
to  the  benefit  of  imperfect  believers,  who  purchased  as 
required  from   the    chancellors  of  the    holy  exchequei. 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  147 

The  pope's  check  was  honored  in  the  Bank  of  Heaven 
and  he  could  distribute  at  his  pleasure.  Whosesoever  sins 
he  remitted  were  remitted.  It  requires  but  little  reflection 
to  discover  the  power  which  this  doctrine  of  indulgences 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  priesthood — a  power 
which  wrought  immeasurable  evil  to  the  Church,  which 
bound  the  papist  in  abject  submission  to  his  spiritual 
teachers,  and  greatly  encouraged  sin,  casting  its  affront 
in  the  face  of  infinite  holiness  and  dragging  souls  to 
perdition.  It  is  no  marvel  that  a  clear  apprehension  of 
this  unscriptural,  sordid  dogma  and  an  earnest  scrutiny 
of  its  fruits  roused  in  the  mind  of  Martin  Luther  a 
spirit  of  profound  indignation,  and  inspired  the  boldness 
which  nailed  the  theses  to  the  Wittenberg  cathedral — 
a  protest  against  iniquity  which  rolled  its  voice  of  thun- 
der over  papal  Europe. 

3.  In  the  fifteenth  century  Aristotle  was  in  great  re- 
pute, and  was  not  displaced  in  a  later  age  by  even  Des- 
cartes and  Kant.  He  was  the  oracle  to  whom  philos- 
ophers appealed.  His  works  were  translated  into  the 
language  of  this  period.  In  the  Chiircli  he  was  recog- 
nized as  a  forerunner  of  Christ,  and  his  dialectics  aided 
the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  The  very  obscurity 
and  ambiguity  of  Aristotle's  writings  made  him  avail- 
able in  the  interests  of  Romish  errors.  His  theory  of 
substantial  forms  fixvored  transubstantiation.  His  sys- 
tem of  philosophy,  as  then  taught,  though  not  under- 
stood, minimized  sin  and  modified  the  doctrines  of  grace. 
Then  arose  a  distinction  which  made  justification  objec- 
tive and  subjective,  the  result  of  faith  and  of  personal 
holiness.  The  wedding-garment  was  not  simply,  as  the 
term  clearly  implied,  that  which  clothed  the  soul  and 


148  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

was  put  on  from  without,  or  an  imputed  righteousness, 
but  also  an  inherent  goodness,  the  two,  as  warp  and 
woof,  constituting  the  robe  of  merit  which  admits  to 
the  marriage-supper.  This  theory  ultimately  diverted 
attention  from  Christ  to  the  appointed  ceremonies  of  the 
Church,  to  self- mortification  prescribed  by  the  priests,  to 
penances  as  an  atonement  for  sin,  and  to  offerings  made 
for  the  purchase  of  pardon  and  divine  favor.  It  was 
admitted  that  justification  as  an  objective  act  was  secured 
by  the  merits  of  Christ's  death,  but  after  its  appropriation 
the  recipient  wrought  out  a  subjective  holiuess  by  his 
own  exertions,  and  so  shared  the  final  result  with  God. 
Martin  Luther  still  clung  to  this  inner  element  of  justi- 
fication when  climbing  Pilate's  Staircase  on  his  knees. 
The  re  d  basis  of  the  soul's  acceptance  was  man's  work, 
not  di\ine  grace.  This  was  the  fundamental  error  of 
Rome,  and  it  vitiated  the  whole  system  of  faith.  Out 
of  it  grew  penances,  the  mass,  purgatory,  asceticism 
and  all  that  was  self-righteous  and  servile  in  the  religion 
of  Rome.  It  was  this  that  darkened  the  hope  and  sad- 
dened the  lives  and  exhausted  the  strength  of  a  people 
who  were  devoutly  religious,  but  had  failed  to  discover 
the  central  saving  truth  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  It 
was  this  that  gave  intensity  to  a  superstitious  worship, 
that  bound  Romanists  as  with  hooks  of  steel  to  an 
arrogant  priesthood  and  deflected  them  from  the  way 
which  joined  earth  to  heaven.  Luther  rejected  the 
falsehood.  He  exalted  the  finished  work  of  Christ 
a])propriated  by  faith,  and  puljlished  peace  to  the  labor- 
ing and  heavy-ladened.  So  essential  did  he  esteem  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  that  he  pronounced  it 
the  "  doctrine  of  a  rising  or  falling  Church." 


I 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  149 

There  were  other  errors  which,  together  with  these, 
will  be  noticed  in  the  course  of  our  narrative,  which  we 
now  resume. 

Martin  Luther,  the  central  figure  of  the  Reformation, 
was  born  Nov.  10, 1483,  at  Eisleben,  a  village  of  Saxony, 
at  the  base  of  the  Hartz  Mountains.  His  birth  was  as 
humble  as  the  place  of  his  nativity  was  obscure.  His 
parents  were  peasants  who  had  lived  in  the  hamlet  of 
Mora,  close  by  the  Thuringian  forests.  John  Luther, 
his  father,  was  a  miner  and  poor,  yet  he  was  a  man  of 
rare  intelligence  in  his  day,  and  distinguished  by  an  in- 
tegrity of  character  which  commanded  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  his  neighbors.  Soon  after  he  removed 
from  Eisleben  to  Mansfeld,  drawn  thither  by  the  >!ichness 
of  its  mines,  he  was  promoted  to  several  maf:^isterial 
offices,  which  he  filled  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the 
advantage  of  the  community  which  had  thus  honored 
him.  The  mother  was  exceptionally  pious,  and,  though 
unduly  stern,  was  characterized  by  gentle  traits  which 
won  for  her  the  affection  of  all  who  intimately  knew 
her,  whilst  her  kind  offices  of  sympathy  cheered  many  a 
darkened  home. 

Young  Martin's  life  was  thoughtful  and  sol)er.  The 
law  of  heredity  had  secured  him  elements  of  character 
which  were  to  fit  him  for  his  great  mission  ;  the  atmo- 
sphere of  his  home  fostered  natural  seriousness  and  high 
conceptions  of  the  earnestness  and  the  possibilities  of  life. 

"When  in  his  fourteenth  year  he  w^as  sent  to  a  school 
at  Magdeburg,  but  was  soon  transferred  to  Eisenach, 
where  he  continued  his  studies  in  the  midst  of  great 
privations.     He  was  possessed  of  a  sweet  voice  of  much 


150  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

compass  and  power,  and  was  accustomed  to  add  to  liis 
means  of  subsistence,  which  were  meagre,  by  singing 
from  door  to  door  and  begging  his  bread.  He  referred 
to  this  in  later  life  when  he  said,  "  I  myself  was  once  a 
poor  mendicant,  seeking  my  bread  at  people's  houses, 
particularly  at  Eisenach,  my  own  dear  Eisenach." 

About  this  time  young  Martin  was  employed  as  a 
chorister  in  the  village  church.  A  lady  of  some  wealth, 
an  attendant  at  the  same  church,  was  much  impressed  by 
the  lad's  proficiency  in  the  service,  his  cultured  tones  and 
thoughtful  face  and  evident  superiority  to  his  compan- 
ions. One  evening  she  heard  the  familiar  voice  in  front 
of  her  dwelling,  and  looking  out  saw  on  the  street  the 
boy  who  had  won  her  admiration  in  the  church.  See 
God's  hand  in  this.  She  kindly  invited  him  to  her 
home,  and  thereafter  he  was  a  member  of  the  Cotta 
household — through  necessity  a  mendicant  no  more.  He 
cherished  with  all  the  tenderness  which  marked  a  char- 
acter truly  great  the  memory  of  this  generous  friend 
in  all  the  years  of  toil  and  danger  which  followed,  and 
often  recalled  the  happy  days  spent  under  her  roof,  de- 
claring, "There  is  nothing  sweeter  on  earth  than  the 
heart  of  a  woman  in  which  piety  dwells." 

No  longer  constrained  to  beg  for  bread,  he  gave  him- 
self with  renewed  energy  to  his  studies.  It  is  recorded 
that  he  excelled  in  "  Latin,  eloquence  and  poetry."  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  entered  the  university  at  Erfurt, 
that  he  might  prepare  himself  for  the  profession  of  law. 
Here  he  familiarized  himself  with  the  works  of  Duns 
Scotus  the  Franciscan  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  studied  the 
Orations  of  Cicero  and  communed  with  his  favorite  poet 
who  wrote  the  ^neid  and   Georgics. 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  151 

The  old  library  with  its  musty  volumes  was  Martin's 
favorite  resort.  He  also  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  men  who 
adorned  the  Periclean  age,  approved  their  philosophies 
or  condemned  them,  and  with  that  persistence  which 
marked  all  his  life  went  below  the  surface,  seeking  for 
primal  things.  But  there  was  one  book  which  absorbed 
his  attention  more  than  all  the  rest.  He  read  it  in  an 
ecstasy  of  joy  or  wept  over  its  pages.  It  taught  a 
diviner  philosophy  than  Aristotle  knew,  and  its  poetry 
surpassed  that  of  the  Mantuan  bard.  All  this  while  he 
was  a  devout  Romanist;  he  dwelt  among  the  tombs; 
ceremony  was  more  to  him  than  faith,  and  the  Virgin 
Mary  than  her  glorious  Son. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  was  made  doctor  of 
philosophy,  and  his  fellow-students  in  a  torchlight  pro- 
cession celebrated  the  event.  Encouraged  by  his  suc- 
cesses, Luther  resolved  to  climb  the  heights  of  learning, 
and,  conscious  of  his  power,  no  obstacle  deterred  him. 
Sordid  motives  urged  him  on.  But  God  had  something 
better  in  store  for  him  and  led  him  by  a  way  he  knew 
not.  The  assassination  of  his  friend  Alexis  suggested  a 
world  to  come,  and  a  thunderstorm  which  overtook  him 
on  a  country  road  led  him  to  its  borders.  Then,  deeply 
conscious  of  his  sins,  he  bowed  to  the  earth  and  cove- 
nanted to  sacrifice  his  worldly  ambition  to  the  will  of 
God.  Soon  after,  surrendering  all  the  hopes  that  had 
lured  him  on,  he  entered  a  convent  and  sought  by  fast- 
ings, watchings  and  prayers,  by  the  most  menial  services 
as  porter,  sexton  and  servant  of  the  cloister,  and  by  the 
offices  of  a  mendicant  on  the  village  streets,  to  secure 
divine  favor  and  purchase  eternal  life.  But  the  days 
grew  darker,  his  load  of  sin  heavier,  and  God  seemed 
11 


152  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

to  recede  from  him  as  the  twilight  which  deepens  into 
night.  A  faint  gleam  of  light  came  to  him  with  the 
words  uttered  in  an  adjoining  cell,  '^  I  believe  in  the 
remission  of  sins/'  and  the  day  dawned  when  John 
Staupitz  pointed  him  to  the  wounds  of  Jesus  as  the 
only  remedy  for  guilt.  It  was  a  sweet  and  ever-to-be- 
remembered  hour  w'hen  he  felt  on  his  bowed  head  the 
droppings  of  the  cleansing  blood,  and  caught  the  voice 
of  infinite  Love  confirming  his  faith,  saying,  "  Son,  thy 
sins  are  forgiven  thee  for  thy  Saviour's  sake.''  Now 
Luther  has  learned  that  justification  is  by  faith,  not  by 
works — that  Christ  saves,  and  he  alone.  The  cross 
stands  before  him  the  most  conspicuous  object  under 
the  sun ;  beyond  it  a  glorious  heaven,  and  written  across 
the  overarching  sky  in  characters  of  light  the  words  of 
Paul :  "  Being  justified  by  faith,  w^e  have  peace  wnth  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Thus  w^e  observe  the 
Reformation  was  born  in  the  convent-cell.  Erfurt  be- 
came the  Bethlehem  of  the  Middle  Ap-cs. 

This  is  the  first  period  in  the  life  of  Luther.  The 
miner's  son  is  an  accomplished  scholar  and  a  devout 
Christian,  ready  to  enter  broader  fields  and  do  a  work 
which  shall  bless  generations  yet  unborn. 

The  second  period  in  Luther's  eventful  career,  accord- 
ing to  an  accepted  division,  extends  from  1507  to  1521, 
or  to  the  Diet  of  Worms.  After  his  conversion  he  was 
ordained  a  priest.  The  ceremony  of  induction  into  the 
sacerdotal  office  occurred  May  2,  1507.  John  Luther, 
the  father,  was  present,  a  sad  observer,  w^ho  regarded 
the  transaction  as  a  "snare  of  the  devil."  Jerome, 
bishop  of  Bradenburg,  according  to  the  usages  of  the 
Church,  instituted  Martin   Luther  a  priest,  and  as  he 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  153 

put  the  chalice  in  Luther's  hand  repeated  the  blasphem- 
ous words :  ''  Receive  the  power  to  offer  sacrifice  for  the 
liviug  and  for  the  dead." 

Soon  the  night  began  to  close  again  about  the  youthful 
priest.  He  was  discontented  in  his  estate.  Sin  troubled 
him,  and  he  knew  not  how  to  escape  its  power.  For- 
giveness needed  to  be  continually  sought,  for  he  con- 
tinually sinned.  He  often  lingered  at  the  altar,  his 
tearful  face  turned  toward  heaven,  pleading  for  pardon, 
and  then,  repairing  to  his  cell,  he  spent  even  whole 
nights  in  prayer.  All  this  while  he  was  losing  confi- 
dence in  himself  and  learning  more  and  more  his  need 
of  Christ.  Accustomed  to  rely  on  personal  righteous- 
ness, self-sufficiency  was  tottering  to  its  fall.  He  be- 
lieved in  justification  by  faith,  but  his  convictions  deep- 
ened. The  morality  which  Aristotle  taught,  and  which 
the  Romish  Church  had  substituted  for  the  righteousness 
of  Christ,  grew  more  distasteful,  and  with  a  stronger 
faith  he  clung  to  the  finished  work  of  Christ.  And  yet 
he  had  learned  only  a  partial  gospel.  He  knew  that 
Christ  forgives  sin,  but  Christ's  relations  to  personal 
holiness  were  not  clearly  apprehended.  He  was  pass- 
ing through  the  lingering  mists  into  the  broader  light. 
But  even  then  he  was  far  in  advance  of  the  prevailing 
sentiment  of  his  times. 

A  little  later,  on  an  important  embassage,  Luther  sets 
out  for  Rome.  Still  burdened  in  spirit,  he  exclaims, 
^'  There  at  length  I  shall  find  rest."  There  is  the  head 
of  the  Church,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter.  There  is  the 
Vatican  with  its  great  libraries.  There  are  the  goodly 
temples  built  of  precious  stones,  adorned  with  all  that 
art  can  devise  and  wealth  purchase.     There  is  the  outer 


154  BO  MAN  ISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

court  of  heaven,  where  may  be  heard  the  footsteps  of 
God  and  the  whisperings  of  his  love.  Peace,  sweet 
peace,  shall  soon  fill  the  soul  of  the  yet  anxious  priest. 

But  aloncr  the  route  he  was  amazed  at  the  sins  which 
defiled  the  Church's  holiest  shrines,  and  the  spiritual 
blindness  which  ruled  in  high  places.  Surely  it  is  not  so, 
he  thought,  in  the  Eternal  City.  At  length  the  journey 
is  completed.  Within  the  sacred  walls,  hard  by  the 
Tiber  of  wdiich  poets  had  sung,  around  him  the  great 
churches,  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's  towering  above  the  re- 
mains of  a  classic  age,  Luther  knelt  and  raising  his  eyes 
to  heaven  exclaimed,  '^  Hail,  holy  Rome  !  made  holy  by 
the  holy  martyrs  and  by  the  blood  which  has  here  been 
spilt."  " 

The  Rome  of  the  Scipios  and  Caesars  was  in  ruins.  The 
mutilated  Coliseum  looked  down  on  the  Arch  of  Titus. 
But  what  matters  this  ruin  since  Christian  Rome  lives  on, 
and  at  her  altars  are  granted  visions  of  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem which  abideth  for  ever?  How  bitter  was  his  dis- 
appointment !  Peace  is  more  remote  than  when  from 
Wittenberg  he  set  out  on  his  journey  hither.  No  cere- 
mony, however  gorgeous,  avails  anything.  No  penance 
brings  God  near ;  no  humiliation  amid  the  splendors  of 
the  sacred  city  purchases  the  holiness  he  craves.  Climb- 
ing Pilate's  Staircase  on  his  knees,  praying  and  weeping 
as  in  painfulness  he  goes  up,  he  is  more  unhappy  than 
before.  But  there,  in  a  way  he  did  not  expect,  he  found 
the  gate  of  heaven.  A  voice  seeming  to  speak  from  out 
another  world  sweetly  said,  "  The  just  shall  live  by 
faith."  And  as  the  morning  clouds  disappear  and  the 
shadows  when  the  summer's  sun  comes  up,  so  all  his 
sadness  vanished  as  the  revelation  of  Christ  the  Sancti- 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  155 

fier  dawned  upon  him.  Jesus  pardons.  Ah  yes  !  and 
he  also  makes  his  people  holy.  He  learned  at  last,  what 
even  little  children  born  of  God  may  know  now,  the 
fulhiess  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  He  learned  what  Paul 
had  taught  and  men  had  believed  before  the  Sun  of 
righteousness  had  been  obscured  by  the  fogs  and  death- 
damps  of  Rome — that  Jesus  is  all  in  all,  the  Author  and 
Finisher  of  faith,  made  unto  his  own  wisdom,  righteous- 
ness, sanctification  and  redemption.  And  so  Luther  found 
in  Rome  the  rest  he  sought,  but  God  gave  it,  and  not 
man.  St.  Peter's  church,  the  Vatican,  the  imposing 
hierarchy,  the  magnificent  ritual, — these  still  have  a 
hold  upon  him,  but  the  old  power  is  waning.  The  sun  of 
the  Reformation  has  risen  above  the  hills.  From  Rome, 
Luther  returned  to  Wittenberg.  Soon  after,  yielding  to 
the  united  wish  of  Frederick,  elector  of  Saxony,  and 
John  Staupitz,  he  was  made  ^^  doctor  of  the  Holy  Script- 
ures/' and  the  insignia  of  his  office  were  conferred  ujion 
him  by  Carlstadt  at  Leipzig  in  1512.  __ 

Mark  now  the  high  resolve  of  Luther.  Referring  to 
the  imposing  ceremony  in  which  was  conveyed  to  him 
the  highest  dignity  of  the  university,  he  says :  "  I  then 
pledged  myself  to  my  well-beloved  Scriptures  to  preach 
tlieni  faithfully,  to  teach  them  with  purity,  to  study  them 
all  my  life,  and  defend  them  both  in  disputation  and  in 
writing  against  all  false  teachers,  so  far  as  God  should 
give  me  the  ability.'^  That  day  Martin  Luther  put  on 
his  armor,  turned  his  face  to  the  foe  and  flung  out  the 
banner  of  his  strength  :  "  The  word  of  God.''  He 
thus  took  issue  with  Rome,  exalting  the  sacred  Script- 
ures, which  were  w^ithheld  from  the  people,  as  the  only 
and  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice,  infinitely  siipe- 


156  EOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

rior  to  all  the  sophisms  and  theology  of  the  schools. 
He  accepted  the  Nazareue  as  his  teacher  rather  than 
Aristotle  or  Thomas  Aquiuas,  saying,  ^'  Within  my  heart 
reigns  alone,  and  must  reign  alone,  faith  in  my  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  who  alone  is  the  beginning,  the  middle  and 
the  end  of  my  thoughts/^  He  also  announced  the  de- 
cadence of  the  old  philosophies  which,  coming  down  to 
his  day,  had  turned  men  from  Christ.  ^Mristotle  is  de- 
clining ;  he  is  tottering  toward  his  eternal  ruin,  which 
is  near  at  hand."  In  a  tour  made  in  the  interests  of 
the  cathedral  at  Wittenberg  he  impressed  upon  the  monks 
at  Dresden  and  Erfurt  and  in  the  long  line  of  monasteries 
far  as  the  forests  of  Thuringia,  the  great  thought  which 
possessed  his  own  soul,  the  incomparable  superiority  of  the 
divine  word  and  the  value  of  that  fundamental  doctrine 
which  is  the  light  and  life  of  men — -justification  by  faith. 
"  Do  not  bind  yourselves,"  he  said,  ''  to  Aristotle  or  to 
any  other  teacher  of  a  deceitful  philosophy,  but  read  the 
word  of  God  with  diligence.  Do  not  look  for  salvation 
in  your  own  strength  or  in  your  good  works,  but  in  the 
merits  of  Christ  and  in  the  grace  of  God." 

He  was  thus  unconsciously  sowing  the  seeds  of  the 
Reformation.  The  convents  of  Germany  were  the 
moulders  of  religious  thought,  as  they  were  the  centres 
of  learning,  and  whilst  Luther  was  pressing  an  emanci- 
pated gospel  upon  their  attention  he  was  preparing  them 
for  the  great  strife  with  error.  And  when,  by  and  Iw, 
the  tocsin  of  holy  war  was  sounded  over  the  plains  and 
among  the  mountains,  there  issued  from  hoary  monas- 
teries a  multitude  of  stalwart  men  ready  to  lift  high  the 
standard  of  the  cross  and  do  battle  for  the  truth.  In 
the   year   1516   the  people   at  large   caught  their  first 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  157 

glimpse  of  the  sun  which  betokened  a  glorious  gospel 
day. 

About  this  time  Luther  published  his  views  ou  free 
will,  in  opposition  to  the  theories  of  Pelagius,  which 
made  man  the  architect  of  his  own  destiny  by  ascribing 
to  him  the  power  resident  in  himself  of  loving  God  and 
doing  good  works,  so  casting  discredit  upon  the  office  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Luther  said  to  men  enslaved  by  sin, 
'^  You  need  true  liberty,  and  God  offers  it  to  you  in  his 
gospel."  He  insisted  that  without  grace  there  could  be 
no  work  of  love.  Yet  he  set  man  between  "  two  glories 
and  two  grandeurs  '' — a  glory  from  which  he  has  fallen, 
and  a  glory  to  which,  through  Christ,  he  may  attain. 
This  humiliation  of  man  in  his  natural  estate  was  not 
grateful  to  the  carnal  mind,  and  for  a  time  the  Reformer 
stood  quite  alone  in  his  advocacy  of  what  is  so  funda- 
mental. Hope  begins  with  hopelessness.  When  we 
cease  to  depend  upon  ourselves,  God  comes  in  the  might 
of  his  power,  not  before. 

Now  we  reach  one  of  the  most  important  epochs  in 
the  history  of  the  Reformation.  Leo  X.  occupied  the 
pontifical  throne.  The  great  church  w^hich  Michael 
Angelo  had  designed  remained  unfinished.  It  was  pro- 
posed to  make  it  what  it  now  is,  the  most  magnificent 
temple  in  the  world.  But  the  treasury  must  be  replen- 
ished or  St.  Peter's  church  could  not  be  completed.  A 
modern  historian  has  well  said,  ''Leo  had  no  Mexico  to 
which  he  might  have  recourse.  His  mines  were  the  old 
faith  of  the  nations,  their  easy  credulity.'^  He  had  en- 
trusted this  mine  in  Germany  to  the  Dominicans.  The 
Council  of  Trent  had  declared  that  "  the  power  to  grant 
indulgences  had  been  committed  to  the  Church  by  Jesus 


158  R031AyiSM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Christ,  and  the  use  of  them  is  beneficial  to  salvation" — 
a  blasphemous,  mercenary  doctrine  which  had  borne  its 
legitimate  fruit  in  flagitious  lives  and  eternal  loss.  Men 
had  but  to  pay  silver  or  gold  ducats  into  the  pope's  treas- 
ury and  then  sin  with  impunity.  Purgatorial  fires 
ceased  to  alarm  them.  Or,  if  they  had  friends  lingering 
in  that  world  of  flame,  they  might  purchase  their  release 
and  so  hasten  their  passage  into  heaven. 

At  this  time  Albert,  archbishop  and  elector  of  Mentz 
and  of  Magdeburg,  was  in  need  of  money,  and  secured 
from  Leo  the  privilege,  as  it  was  expressed,  of  ''  farming 
the  sins  of  the  Germans."  Then  John  Tetzel,  a  man 
whose  infamous  life  did  not  disqualify  him  for  the  ser- 
vice, was  commissioned  to  conduct  the  traffic  in  indul- 
gences. His  assistants  were  Dominican  monks.  They 
rode  in  carriages  and  horsemen  went  on  before  them* 
When  they  approached  a  city  they  made  their  profane 
announcement,  "  The  grace  of  God  and  of  the  Holy 
Father  is  at  your  gates."  Then  priests  and  people, 
great  and  small,  hastened  to  meet  them,  and  after  humble 
salutations,  the  city  bells  ringing  the  mean  while  and  all 
the  avenues  choking  w^ith  excited  throngs,  the  mighty 
pageant  moved  toward  the  cathedral  or  humbler  church. 
Leo's  bull  of  grace,  supported  by  a  gilded  cushion,  was 
borne  in  front;  close  behind  it  rode  the  monk  Tetzel 
bearing  a  red  cross,  himself  the  very  personification  of 
vice  and  yet  the  messenger  of  the  vicegerent  of  God. 
The  procession  with  its  attendant  crowed  entered  the 
church,  the  great  organ  articulating  the  j)eople's  welcome 
and  waving  censers  pouring  their  fragrance  on  the  air. 
The  chief  of  the  Dominicans,  elevating  the  cross  and 
signaling  for  silence,  addressed  the  crowd.     Hear  what 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  159 

the  mountebank  says  ;  "  Indulgences  are  the  most  pre- 
cious and  the  most  noble  of  God's  gifts.  This  cross  has 
as  much  efficacy  as  the  cross  of  Christ.  Come  and  I. 
will  give  you  letters,  all  properly  sealed,  by  which  even 
the  sins  you  intend  to  commit  may  be  pardoned.  But 
more  than  this  :  indulgences  avail  not  only  for  the  living, 
but  for  the  dead.  Do  you  not  hear  parents  and  friends 
cry  from  the  bottom  of  the  abyss,  ^  We  are  suffering  hor- 
rible torments.  A  trifling  alms  would  deliver  us  ;  you 
can  give  it  and  you  will  not '  ?'' 

The  monk's  voice,  clear  and  sonorous,  sounds  down 
the  long  aisles  and  fills  the  transepts.  The  people  look 
wouderingly  and  inquiringly  at  one  another.  A  mo- 
ment's pause  and  the  monk  proceeds.  The  people  dis- 
believe him,  but  he  declares  the  Lord  God  no  longer 
reigns,  but  has  resigned  all  power  to  the  pope,  and, 
speaking  in  Leo's  name,  he  solemnly  swears  that  if  they 
will  heed  the  cry  from  the  pit,  ^^  at  the  very  instant  the 
money  rattles  at  the  bottom  of  the  chest  the  soul  escapes 
from  purgatory  and  flies  liberated  to  heaven."  Then  he 
tells  them  the  bodies  of  Peter  and  Paul  and  a  multitude 
of  holy  martyrs  are  the  sport  of  winds  and  storms  with- 
in the  unfinished  walls  of  St.  Peter's  church,  and  their 
money  will  shelter  them  whilst  it  will  secure  the  people 
a  priceless  good.  Scenes  like  this  are  repeated  as  the 
weeks  go  on.  The  coffers  of  Leo  and  Albert  are  being 
filled  whilst  Tetzel  rolls  in  wealth,  a  greater  gainer  by 
this  traffic  in  souls  than  they. 

At  length,  Luther,  taking  counsel  of  God  only,  enters 
the  arena,  determined,  if  possible,  to  check  this  gigantic 
wrong.  On  All  Saints'  Day,  as  the  people  thronged  the 
street  leading  to  the  church  the  elector  had  built,  enriched 


160  EOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

with  relics  Luther  himself  had  gathered,  the  resolute 
Reformer  pressed  his  way  through  the  surging  mass,  and 
nailed  to  the  door  of  the  Wittenberg  church  his  famous 
theses,  which  convulsed  Central  Europe  and  opened 
prison-doors,  that  the  Church  of  the  living  God,  weak 
and  unhappy,  might  come  forth.  In  these  theses, 
ninety-five  in  all,  he  denies  the  power  of  the  pope  to 
forgive  sins,  and  asserts  that  the  hope  of  being  saved  by 
indulgences  is  a  lying  and  empty  hope.  Within  a  month 
his  theses  had  been  printed  and  scattered  through  Chris- 
tendom, and  the  world  was  astir.  Luther  was  not  pre- 
pared for  this.  He  would  gladly  have  stilled  the  tumult 
of  the  people  and  encouraged  calmer  thought.  But  this 
was  beyond  his  power.  He  was  helpless  as  Canute 
when  the  resistless  sea  laughed  at  his  imperious  edict  and 
rolled  on.  God^s  power  was  working,  and  Rome  trem- 
bled on  the  verge  of  disaster  her  impiety  had  evoked. 
Luther  had  thought  to  defeat  Tetzel's  mission  only,  but 
he  had  struck  the  pontifical  throne  itself,  and  the  war 
was  transferred  from  Wittenberg  to  Rome.  Then,  too, 
the  Reformer  had  directed  attention  to  the  grace  of  God 
which  has  provided  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ,  and, 
though  he  knew  it  not,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  at 
hand.  Soon  he  realized  the  power  of  truth.  His  pen 
which  recorded  it  was  mightier  than  the  sword.  The 
church-door  at  Wittenberg  was  the  gateway  of  religious 
freedom,  and  through  it  marched  the  glorious  King  who 
shall  reign  in  righteousness  and  give  his  people  peace. 

In  this  controversy  Luther  had  the  sympathies  of  some 
leading  minds  in  Germany.  This  was  notably  true  of 
John  Reuchlin,  the  instructor  of  Melanchthon,  who  had 
risen  from  ol)Scurity  to  great  distinction,  pronounced  by 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  161 

the  Roman  pontiff  deserving  of  the  highest  rank  among 
the  orators  of  France  and  Italy.  When  he  heard  of 
Luther's  opposition  to  Tetzel,  alluding  to  the  Dominican 
monks,  he  exclaimed,  "Thanks  be  to  God!  At  length 
they  have  found  a  man  who  will  give  them  so  much  to 
do  that  they  will  be  compelled  to  let  my  old  age  end  in 
peace/' 

Luther  also  had  the  support  of  Erasmus,  the  sage  of 
Rotterdam,  a  man  of  great  learning,  but  of  mercurial 
temperament,  who  lacked  the  elements  of  a  Reformer, 
yet  prepared  the  way  for  a  work  which  men  of  sterner 
stuff  were  summoned  to  perform.  He  had  expressed  in 
burning  sarcasm  his  judgment  of  the  teachings  and  prac- 
tices of  Rome.  The  monks  feared  and  hated  him.  The 
scholars  of  the  age  revered  him.  He  agreed  with  Luther 
that  iu  theology  the  teachings  of  Scotus  and  Aquinas 
should  never  be  accepted  when  in  conflict  with  those  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles.  His  Greek  Testament  displaced 
the  Vulgate,  which  abounded  in  errors,  and  in  various 
ways  his  learning  advanced  the  truth.  He  applauded 
the  theses  which  Luther  had  given  to  the  world,  and  yet 
declared  ^^a  disadvantageous  peace  to  be  better  than  the 
most  righteous  war.'' 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Reformer  encountered  the  op- 
position of  influential  scholars,  and  the  lines  of  separa- 
tion were  being  more  closely  drawn.  Among  these 
scholars  may  be  mentioned  Prierio,  a  Dominican ;  Hoch- 
straten  of  Cologne ;  and  Eck,  the  learned  professor  of 
Ingolstadt,  who  arrayed  the  Schoolmen  against  the  in- 
cipient Reformation. 

In  the  early  part  of  1518  a  general  chapter  of  Au- 
gustine monks  inimical  to  the  Reformation  was  held  at 


162  LOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Heidelberg,  and  Luther,  as  one  of  its  most  distinguished 
members,  was  summoned  thither.  Timid  friends  dis- 
couraged his  attendance,  but,  trusting  in  God,  he  en- 
tered on  the  dangerous  journey.  Part  of  the  passage  was 
made  on  foot.  Dust-covered  and  footsore  he  entered 
Wurtzburg.  There  he  met  John  Staupitz  and  Lange, 
the  prior  of  Erfurt,  and  joining  them  in  their  carriage  a 
three  days'  journey  brought  them  to  Heidelberg  and  to  the 
shelter  of  the  Augustinian  convent.  After  a  brief  rest  they 
repaired  to  the  castle,  but  pleasant  companionship  could 
not  divert  Luther  from  the  great  work  before  him.  A 
public  disputation  was  announced  to  occur  in  the  chapel  of 
the  Augustinian  monastery,  and  multitudes  flocked  thith- 
er to  see  and  hear  the  man  whose  fame  had  already  become 
a  household  word.  Here  he  dwelt  on  his  favorite  theme, 
justification  by  faith.  He  was  opposed  by  five  learned 
doctors,  but  his  appeal  was  to  the  word  of  God.  Again 
he  opposed  Christ  to  Aristotle,  and  defended  his  position 
with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  His  utterances,  in  a  voice 
of  great  sweetness,  were  clear,  positive  and  strangely 
eloquent.  Some  of  his  audience  said,  "  He  is  in  many 
respects  like  Erasmus,  but  surpasses  him  in  one  thing: 
he  openly  professes  what  Erasmus  is  content  merely  to 
insinuate."  Salvation  through  Christ  was  not  an  un- 
welcome truth  to  many.  The  spiritual  cross  rose  to  their 
view.  Jesus  the  Sin-bearer,  the  Lord  our  righteousness, 
was  a  great  sight  to  men  who  had  groped  among  old 
philosophies  and  bowed  at  the  feet  of  the  popes.  A  light 
is  beino;  kindled  in  Heidelbero;  which  shall  climb  the 
hoary  mountains  around  it — that  shall  shine  far  over 
Europe  and  reveal  to  many  who  are  now  lost  the  way 
to  God. 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  163 

There  were  present  three  young  men  whose  eyes  were 
fixed  on  the  bold  defender  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints.  They  were  stirred  by  his  eloquence  and 
deeply  affected  by  the  truth.  They  are  even  now  gird- 
iuo:  themselves  for  the  strife  in  which  this  Auo^ustinian 
monk  shall  lead  the  way.  Their  names  are  familiar — 
Martin  Bucer,  John  Brentz  and  Ehrhard  Snepf.  They 
repeated  Luther's  words  when  he  was  gone.  Their  in- 
fluence spread  throughout  Saxony  and  beyond  the  Eng- 
lish Channel.  Jesus  is  preached  with  power,  and  the 
truth  is  marching  in  its  strength  over  prostrate  super- 
stitions. Meanwhile  Leo  X.  is  looking  on.  From  his 
pontifical  chair  he  hears  the  sound  of  moving  feet  and 
preparations  for  religious  war.  At  first  he  thought 
lightly  of  the  controversy  which  he  referred  to  monkish 
jealousies.  Luther  had  spoken  well  of  the  pope  even 
Avhen  nailing  his  theses  on  the  church-door  at  Witten- 
berg, and  thought  him  superior  to  the  age.  But  return- 
ing from  Heildelberg,  he  passed  a  different  judgment  on 
the  character  and  life  of  the  Florentine  Medici.  His 
regard  for  the  papal  tiara  ceased.  "  I  care  nothing," 
he  said,  ^'  for  what  pleases  or  displeases  the  pope."  Leo's 
teachings  were  thereafter  tested  by  the  word  of  God. 
Christ  only  is  infallible.  His  cross  alone  points  the  way 
to  heaven.  His  commandments  are  the  only  rule  of  life. 
Then  Luther  declared  the  need  of  a  reformation — not 
man's  work,  but  God's.  The  time  was  at  hand.  The 
Church  was  beginning  to  awake.  "  The  dike,"  he  says, 
"is  broken,  and  it  is  no  longer  in  our  power  to  restrain 
the  impetuous  and  overwhelming  billows."  The  sun  is 
going  toward  the  zenith.  The  floods  of  light  are  driv- 
ing away  the  mists  of  darkness.     "  The  German  people," 


164  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

says  D'Aubign^,  "  had  heard  the  voice  of  the  Reformer. 
The  people  turned  toward  him  and  saluted  him  with 
love  and  respect  as  the  intrepid  defender  of  truth  and 
liberty.  If  the  eloquence  of  Peter,  the  hermit  of  St. 
Bernard,  had  inspired  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages  to 
assume  a  perishable  cross,  the  eloquence  of  Luther  pre- 
vailed on  those  of  his  day  to  take  up  the  real  cross,  the 
truth  which  saves.'' 

We  cannot  speak  at  length  of  the  Diet  at  Augsburg  • 
the  charges  preferred  against  Luther,  friar  of  the  Augus- 
tinian  order ;  an  appeal  to  the  pope  to  put  an  end  to  his 
pernicious  teachings  ;  Luther's  summons,  and  his  subse- 
quent appearance  at  Augsburg  instead  ;  his  mock  trial 
before  De  Vio,  surnamed  Cajetan  ;  and  the  humiliation 
which  came  to  Rome,  Serra  Longa  and  the  Italians,  en- 
raged because  they  were  confounded  by  a  German  monk, 
and  the  wrath  of  Leo  when  the  tidings  reached  the 
Vatican,  which  the  Augustinian  had  defied. 

Luther  took  his  departure  from  Augsburg,  and  has- 
tened his  flight  from  the  hands  which  sought  his  blood. 
It  seemed  that  his  expulsion  from  Germany  was  only  a 
question  of  time,  and  his  face  was  turned  toward  France. 
Seated  with  some  friends  at  a  farewell  repast,  he  received 
a  letter  from  the  elector.  He  opened  it,  read  with  trem- 
bling, and  the  way  grew  dark  before  him.  His  fears  are 
well  grounded.  The  prince  asks  why  he  delays  his  de- 
parture. Luther  lifts  his  tearful  eyes  toward  heaven 
and  says,  "  Father  and  mother  abandon  me,  but  the 
Lord  takes  me  up."  Then  he  waited  for  the  Roman 
anathemas  which  were  doubtless  traveling  northward, 
but  meanwhile  drew  up  a  protest  against  the  assumptions 
of  Rome,  and  then  appealed  to  a  general  council  as  "  the 


MARTIN  LUTHER.  165 

only  means  of  safety  against  that  injustice  which  it  was 
impossible  to  resist. 

Subsequently,  Leo  X.  issued  his  famous  damnatory 
bull,  in  which  he  condemns  as  heretical  many  writings 
of  the  Augustinian  monk,  forbids  the  reading  of  the  same 
on  pain  of  excommunication,  and  threatens,  in  case  Lu- 
ther does  not  recant,  to  deliver  him  unto  Satan  for  the 
destruction  of  liis  flesh,  and  so  he  with  all  who  aid 
him  in  his  heretical  course  shall  be  for  ever  accursed. 
The  time  had  been  when  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe 
would  have  trembled  before  the  threatenings  of  Rome, 
but  now  they  are  wholly  disregarded  by  the  brave 
Reformer.  He  went  calmly  on  in  his  work  and  com- 
mitted his  life,  his  soul,  his  all  to  Christ.  As  Jerome 
and  Augustine  had  been  alone,  so  was  Luther.  ''  Yes, 
I  am  alone,''  he  said,  "  but  I  stand  serene,  because  side 
by  side  with  me  is  the  Lord  God  ;  and  with  all  their 
boasted  numbers  this  the  greatest  of  powers  is  not  with 
them." 

The  last  tie  that  bound  Martin  Luther  to  Rome  is 
about  to  be  sundered.  Tlie  Reformation  is  being 
launched  on  the  broad  waters.  The  gallant  ship  has  a 
cross  for  its  floating  pennon,  the  name  of  Christ  is  writ- 
ten on  its  sails,  a  multitude  are  on  board,  their  destiny 
is  a  quiet  haven,  and  beyond  it  is  a  city  undefiled. 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  ^D  THE  DIET  OF 
WORMS. 


12 


*'A?id  ye  shall  be  brought  before  governors  and  kings  for 
my  sake,  for  a  testimo7iy  against  them  and  the  Gentiles.  But 
when  they  deliver  you  up,  take  no  thought  how  or  what  ye  shall 
speak :  for  it  shall  be  given  you  in  that  same  hour  what  ye 
shall  speak '^ 

Matt,  io  :  i8,  19. 

''As  the  providence  of  God  doth,  in  general,  reach  to  all 
creatures ;  so,  after  a  most  special  manner,  it  taketh  care  of 
his  Church,  and  disposeth  all  things  to  the  good  thereof' 
Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  v.  sec.  vii. 

''Here  I  stand;  I  can  do  no  other.  May  God  help  me! 
Amen.'" 

Luther. 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  THE  DIET 
OF  WORMS. 


THE  Augustinian  mouk  is  turniug  the  world  upside 
down.  Nations  are  in  commotion.  The  waves 
of  the  theological  strife  are  beginning  to  smite  the 
pontifical  throne.  Evidently  something  must  be  done, 
and  done  speedily,  or  Rome  will  suffer  contempt,  and 
perchance  far  greater  disaster.  It  is  decided  to  concili- 
ate the  elect (,)r  of  Saxony,  who  seems  friendly  to  this 
revolutionary  monk,  and  through  him  win  back  the 
allegiance  of  the  wavering  or  disaffected.  Frederick 
has  not  broken  with  the  Church.  It  is  remembered 
that  four  years  previously  he  had  solicited  the  pope  to 
grant  him  the  Golden  Rose,  a  beautiful  flower,-  an 
emblem  of  Christ's  body,  which  had  been  often  con- 
secrated by  the  papal  benediction.  Accordingly,  the 
pope's  chamberlain,  a  Saxon  noble  named  Miltitz,  was 
commissioned  to  visit  Frederick  and  convey  to  him  this 
valued  expression  of  his  pontiff's  regard. 

As  the  chamberlain  traveled  northward  he  was  increas- 
ingly impressed  with  the  seriousness  of  the  situation. 
Many  in  Germany,  including  monks  and  representative 
men  of  state,  applaud  Luther's  work  and  bid  it  God- 
speed. Miltitz's  mission  is  variously  interpreted.  In 
the  judgment  of  some  Luther's  life  is  in  peril.    He  may 

169 


170  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

burn  as  did  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague.  The 
brave  Keformer  simply  answers,  "  I  await  God^s  will." 

The  death  of  Maximilian  and  the  temporary  admin- 
istration of  the  German  empire  by  Frederick,  and  a 
variety  of  political  troubles  which  supervened,  were  all 
favorable  to  the  Reformation.  Attention  was  diverted 
from  Luther  and  the  threatening  storm  was  held  in 
abeyance. 

Then,  too,  the  representative  of  Rome  finds  that  Tet- 
zel  has  fallen  into  disrepute.  His  traffic  in  indulgences 
has  roused  the  indignation  of  Germany,  and  Miltitz  is 
compelled  to  denounce  the  blasphemous  Dominican  or 
himself  suffer  inglorious  defeat.  He  cowered  before  the 
enemies  of  Rome,  v/ho,  as  he  judged,  without  reason 
were  resolved  to  compass  his  death.  The  college  of  St. 
Paul  at  Leipsic  is  his  retreat,  but  is  not  an  impregnable 
defence.  The  papal  nuncio  is  humiliated,  and  changes 
his  policy  even  toward  Luther  himself.  Hear  him,  as 
with  an  assumed  tenderness  he  addresses  the  German 
monk  :  "  My  dear  Martin,  I  thought  you  were  an  old 
theologian  who,  seated  quietly  at  his  fireside,  was  labor- 
ing under  some  theological  crotchet,  but  I  see  you  are 
still  a  young  man  and  in  the  prime  of  life.''  Then 
dropping  his  voice  and  speaking  in  solemn  tones,  he 
added :  "  Do  you  know  that  you  have  drawn  away 
everybody  from  the  pope  and  attached  them  to  yourself? 
If  I  had  an  army  of  twenty  five  thousand  men,  I  do 
not  think  I  should  be  able  to  carry  you  to  Rome.'' 

The  nuncio  was  right.  Luther  is  the  master  and 
Miltitz  the  crouching  vassal.  The  German  monk  is 
mightier,  even  now,  in  this  land  of  the  Saxons,  than  the 
hierarchy  the  chamberlain  represents.     And  yet,  strange 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT    WORMS.        171 

;is  it  may  seem  to  us  now,  Luther  cliugs  to  the  Chiircli. 
He  would  not  destroy,  but  purge  it.  With  a  holy  bold-* 
ness  that  fears  not  the  stake  or  the  sword  he  denounces 
its  corruption  and  demands  reform.  But  he  would  work 
within  the  Church,  not  beyond  it.  Hence  he  expresses 
to  the  nuncio  his  regard  for  the  Holy  Father,  and  his 
unwillingness  to  disturb  the  peace  except  when  the 
vindication  of  the  truth  requires  it.  He  would  be  a 
faithful  son  of  the  Church,  but  he  would  have  it  under- 
stood that  his  first  allegiance  is  to  Christ,  the  only 
supreme  Head  thereof  Miltitz  contents  himself  with 
the  concession  thus  made,  for  it  is  evident  he  cannot 
secure  more.  An  agreement  is  entered  into  by  which 
Jjuther  promises  to  retract  anything  offensive  to  Rome 
which  should  be  shown  him  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
truth.  The  chamberlain  a})peared  to  be  deeply  affected. 
He  embraced  and  kissed  the  recreant  monk,  and  the  latter 
returned  a  grim  smile,  understanding,  better  than  was 
supposed,  tlie  artifice  of  the  w^ily  Italian.  The  latter  on 
a  Carnival  occasion  which  followed,  having  drunk  too 
freely  of  the  flowing  cup,  was  thrown  off  his  guard,  and 
discoursed  freely  of  the  sinful  practices  and  decaying 
power  of  the  papal  Church,  so  putting  weapons  into  the 
Reformer's  hands  by  wdiich  to  smite  the  evil  that  resisted 
the  truth.  The  result  of  all  this  was  the  advancement 
of  the  Reformation  in  the  land  of  Luther  and  the  humil- 
iation of  the  Roman  See.  The  monk  has  the  boldness 
to  write  to  Leo  that  whilst  he  loves  the  Church,  he  loves 
Jesus  Christ  more,  for  he  alone  is  Lord  of  all. 

Meanwdiile  the  Golden  Rose  is  detained  at  Augsburg. 
Frederick  stood  side  by  side  \vitli  Luther.  Miltitz  and 
De  Vio  are  en  ratted.     The  truth  is  not  deflected  from  its 


172  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

course.  Its  chariot,  yoked  to  the  sun,  travels  ou. 
Neither  frowus  nor  flatteries,  gifts  nor  gibbets,  can 
defeat  the  purposes  of  God. 

A  new  triumph  awaits  the  Reformation  at  Leipsic. 
The  eyes  of  Germany  have  been  turned  thither.  One 
of  Eome's  strongest  polemics  purposes  to  measure  swords 
with  its  most  stalwart  enemies.  Carlstadt  accepts  the 
challenge.  Eck  prepares  for  the  disputation,  hoping  to 
meet  and  vanquish  a  mightier  foe.  He  will  plant  him- 
self on  the  prostrate  body  of  Carlstadt,  and  then  con- 
tend with  Luther,  a  champion  more  worthy  of  his  steel. 
Who  ever  met  this  mighty  Eck  on  the  open  field  and 
prevailed  against  him  ?  Lutlier's  friends  cannot  disguise 
their  fears.  If  other  means  fail  to  overcome  this  fear- 
less monk,  violence  may  end  his  career.  Burnt  in 
effigy  in  the  Campus  di  Fiore  at  Rome,  he  may  burn  in 
person  on  the  streets  of  Leipsic  or  perish  on  the  banks 
of  the  Tiber.     Luther  alone  is  calm,  trusting  in  God. 

It  is  the  day  succeeding  the  festival  of  the  Corpus 
Christi.  We  are  standing  at  the  Grimma  Gate.  A  pro- 
cession is  passing  through.  Carlstadt  appears  first  in  his 
carriage,  riding  alone.  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  sitting 
side  by  side,  follow.  After  these  come  Lange,  vicar  of 
the  Augustinians,  Nicholas  Arnsdorff  and  many  learned 
men  who  have  espoused  Luther's  cause,  and  two  hundred 
Wittenberg  students  who  are  eager  to  witness  the  fray. 
The  imposing  pageant  moves  slowly  on  and  approaches 
the  gates  of  St.  Paul's  cemetery,  whilst  the  whole  city 
is  excited  by  the  scene. 

The  day  following  one  of  the  largest  halls  in  the  pal- 
ace of  Duke  George  is  occupied  by  an  anxious  throng. 
The  disputants  are  in  their  places.     The  great  assembly, 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT   WORMS.        17:?, 

like  a  field  of  corn  over  wliich  the  summer's  wind  passes, 
how  their  heads,  and,  kneeling,  sing  the  invocation  hymn, 
"  Holy  Spirit,  come.'^  I  doubt  not  heaven  was  looking 
on.  Invisible  angels  on  poised  wings  await  a  resurrec- 
tion such  as  that  on  which  the  first  Easter  morning 
looked  down.  Hell  too  was  moving  from  beneath.  It 
was  an  impressive  and  ever-memorable  hour  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Church. 

Look  at  the  central  figures  in  this  ecclesiastical  drama. 
Eck  stands  among  them,  in  stature  like  Saul  among  the 
Israelites — muscular,  self-reliant,  defiant.  His  voice  is 
like  the  storm,  his  speech  is  rude,  his  gestures  are  devoid 
of  grace.  With  a  memory  which  seldom  fails  him  he 
speaks  without  manuscript  or  notes,  and  when  logic 
limps  vociferates  the  louder,  so  holding  his  power  over 
many  with  whom  noise  and  truth  are  interchangeable 
terms. 

Carlstadt  is  a  man  of  small  stature  and  dark  visage. 
His  voice  is  attenuated  and  his  presence  weak,  though 
in  thought  he  is  superior  to  his  scornful  opponent. 

Luther  is  of  medium  stature,  pale  and  emaciated,  with 
firm  yet  benignant  countenance,  evidently  weighed  down 
by  the  responsibilities  the  occasion  brings,  his  voice  clear, 
sweet  and  commanding,  his  arguments  a  resistless  flood, 
his  earnestness  a  consuming  fire  and  his  moral  courage 
the  miracle  of  the  age. 

Beside  him  is  Philip  Melanchthon,  in  appearance 
child-like  as  Jesse's  youngest  son  when  Samuel  anointed 
him  king,  gentle  as  a  woman  and  mild  in  speech,  yet 
possessed  of  an  acute  mind  and  great  learning,  without 
whom  the  ruo^wd  Luther  could  not  have  carried  to  a 
happy  issue  the  conflict  with  Rome. 


174  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

For  four  days  Eck  aud  Carlstadt  disputed  conceruiug 
free  will  and  sovereign  grace.  The  former  niaguified 
human  ability  ;  the  latter  referred  conversion,  with  tliat 
consent  of  the  will  which  marks  its  latter  stage,  wholly 
to  the  grace  of  God.  The  evangelical  theories  of  Carl- 
stadt  were  humiliating  to  human  pride ;  the  carnal  lieart 
opposed  them. 

The  sentiment  of  the  people  was  with  Eck.  Great 
excitement  extended  throughout  Leipsic.  Angry  words 
were  succeeded  by  violent  blows.  In  public  resorts  the 
discussions  were  more  excited  than  in  the  hall  of  the 
duke's  palace.  Many  pronounced  Luther  a  devil  or 
a  man  in  league  with  the  devil,  and  Carlstadt  was 
almost  forgotten  in  the  wrath  which  his  greater  asso- 
ciates had  awakened. 

Then  Luther  became  prominent  in  the  disputation. 
In  answer  to  Eck's  assumption  tliat  the  pope  was  the 
head  of  the  Church,  he  affirmed  on  the  testimony  of 
God's  word  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Head,  and  not 
man.  '^  He  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  un- 
der his  feet."  "  Let  us  not  listen,"  said  Luther,  "  to 
those  who  banish  Christ  to  the  Church  triumphant  in 
heaven."  He  admitted  that  the  people  might  elect  the 
pope  chief  magistrate  of  the  Church,  but  he  could  not 
be  such  by  divine  right.  To  this  Eck  replied  that  he 
would  prove  the  primacy  of  the  pope  a  divine  right 
l)y  the  words  of  Christ :  "Thou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock 
will  I  build  my  Church  ;"  and  he  quoted  Augustine  in 
sup])ort  of  his  position.  But  Luther  appealed  from 
Augustine's  early  interpretation  of  that  word  to  his 
maturer  judgment,  and  repeated  the  saying  of  Paid, 
"  Other   foundation    can     no    man     lay    than    that    is 


LTJTHKR  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT   WORMS.        175 

laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ."  Eek  resorted  to  ridicule, 
but  Luther  stood  cahuly  ou  the  word  of  God.  He  did 
not  even  hesitate  to  declare  his  sympathy  with  the  teach- 
ings of  the  despised  Bohemian  who  was  burned  at  Con- 
stance, for  John  Huss  sustained  his  positions  not  by  the 
decrees  of  councils,  but  by  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Thus 
Ijuther  struck  at  the  throne  of  Leo  and  preferred  Christ 
to  Rome. 

We  cannot  dwell  upon  other  questions  of  dispute,  such 
as  repentance  and  absolution  of  the  priest  and  indul- 
gences. For  twenty  days  the  disputation  had  engaged 
profound  attention.  Again  the  great  organ  was  heard. 
The  Te  Deum  was  sung.  The  discussion  at  Leipsic  was 
ended.  Mossellams  gave  it  as  his  judgment  that  the 
ignorant,  who  had  grown  gray  under  the  old  Schoolmen, 
were  with  Eck,  ^^  but  Luther  and  Carlstadt,''  he  said, 
"are  victorious  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  possess  any 
learning,  understanding  and  modesty.'^  Luther  and 
Meianchthon  left  the  hall  arm  in  arm,  before  them  a  bat- 
tlefield bounded  by  the  great  seas  and  around  them  the 
chariots  of  the  Lord  and  the  horsemen  thereof. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  this  chapter  of  the  Reformation 
because  it  marks  Luther's  separation  from  Rome.  This 
step,  as  we  have  seen,  was  not  hastily  taken.  The 
Augustinian  monk  had  hoped  to  remain  in  the  Church 
which  had  grown  hoary  with  years,  the  Church  which 
had  built  St.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican,  which  had  com- 
manded the  allegiance  of  empires  and  the  homage  of 
kings,  the  papal  tiara  flashing  with  jewels,  and  the 
chair  of  St.  Peter's  a  grander  throne  than  that  of  the 
Caesar  called  the  Great.  But  Luther  saw  at  last  that 
the  interests  of   the  truth   re(piired   a    separation    from 


176  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Rome,  and  the  decisive  step  was  taken.  He  afterward 
referred  with  great  charity  to  those  who  sympathized 
with  his  views,  yet  lingered  behind.  ^^  I  no  longer 
permit  myself  to  be  indignant  against  those  who  are 
still  attached  to  the  pope,  since  I,  who  had  for  so 
many  years  studied  the  Holy  Scriptures,  still  clung 
wnth  so  much  obstinacy  to  him." 

Now  equally  decisive  action  must  be  taken  by  the 
pope.  A  German  monk  who  defies  the  mighty  hier- 
archy of  Rome  must  be  anathematized.  The  Church 
demands  it;  the  universities  of  Cologne  and  Louvaiu 
declare  it  a  necessity.  George  of  Saxony  insists  that 
the  Hussite  should  be  condemned.  At  the  same  time, 
strong  arms  encircled  the  Reformer,  and  voices  of  love 
bade  him  be  strong  in  the  Lord.  Erasmus,  with  char- 
acteristic timidity,  hid  from  the  gathering  storm.  He 
was  a  Plato  among  his  books  rather  than  a  Socrates  on 
the  open  field.  Ulrich  von  Hutten  and  Franz  von 
Sickingen,  true  men  and  noble,  united  in  support  of 
the  Reformation.  The  latter  pointed  Luther  to  his 
strong  castle,  the  gate  of  which  stood  ajar,  and  assured 
him  that  there,  guarded  by  the  high  walls  and  the 
swords  of  hundreds  of  nobles,  Sylvester  von  Schaum- 
burg  at  their  head,  the  Reformer  would  be  secure  from 
the  hordes  of  Rome.  Then  Luther,  looking  heaven- 
ward, said,  ''  God  give  us  all  a  Christian  understand- 
ing, and  especially  to  the  Christian  nobles  of  the  Ger- 
man nation  a  right  spirited  courage  to  do  the  very  best 
for  our  poor  Church  !     Amen." 

Again  the  blustering  Eck  appeared  on  the  scene.  He 
came  from  Rome  with  the  papal  bull.  The  man  whom 
be  could  not  vanquish  at  Leipsic  nmst  go  down  before 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND   AT   WORMS.        177 

the  fill  mi  nation  of  the  pontifical  throne.  The  bull  of 
excommunication  is  published  in  Wittenberg.  Luther's 
writings  are  condemned  to  the  flames.  All  intercourse 
with  the  arch-heretic  is  forbidden.  The  loyal  sons  of 
Rome  are  exhorted  to  secure  the  person  of  the  Hussite 
and  convey  him  to  the  Holy  City.  The  stake  is  evi- 
dently erected,  the  fagots  are  gathered  and  the  torch  is 
aflame.  '^  Cursed/'  says  Leo,  "  be  the  man  who  asserts  that 
to  burn  heretics  is  a  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost." 

What  does  Luther  care  for  the  impotent  ravings  of 
Leo  X.,  or  Germany  care  for  the  Italian  bull  ?  Leipsic 
is  amazed  at  Eck,  and  for  his  security  the  monastery  of 
St.  Paul  opens  its  gates.  Erfurt,  too,  derides  this  ser- 
vant of  the  pope,  gathers  copies  of  the  papal  bull  and 
casts  them  into  the  river  which  flows  by  the  town.  But 
in  Cologne,  Mayence  and  Louvain  the  bull  is  trium- 
phant, and  the  books  of  the  heretic  ascend  in  the  flames. 
Standing  between  his  friends  and  his  foes,  Luther  main- 
tains a  calm  demeanor,  trusting  in  Him  who  controls 
the  wrath  of  men  and  turns  their  hearts  as  the  streams 
in  the  south.  On  the  10th  of  November  he  announced 
that  the  pope's  bull  of  excommunication  and  the  papal 
books  of  canonical  law  would  be  burned  on  the  follow- 
ing day  at  the  Elster  Gate.  A  multitude  of  students 
and  citizens  assembled  at  the  designated  time  and  place. 
The  fire  was  kindled,  and  Luther  cast  the  bull  and 
the  Roman  decretals  into  it,  saying,  "Because  thou 
hast  offended  the  Holy  One  of  the  Lord,  be  thou  con- 
sumed with  everlasting  fire."  The  smoke  of  the 
holocaust  melted  away  in  the  sky  and  the  sun  looked 
approvingly  down. 

On  the  29th  of  March,  1521,  Caspar  Sturm  of  Oppen- 


178  M03IANIS3I  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

helm  arrived  in  Wittenberg  and  presented  to  Luther  a 
summons  from  the  emperor  Cliarles  V.  to  appear  before 
him  at  Worms  within  twenty-one  days,  unwillingly 
promising  him,  at  Frederick's  request,  a  safe-conduct 
thither.  At  once  Luther  prepared  himself  for  the 
journey.  He  believed  that  death  awaited  him.  For 
Christ  and  the  truth's  sake  he  was  ready  to  die.  His 
friends  provided  him  a  simple  conveyance,  with  a  cover 
to  shield  him  from  sun  and  storm.  He  entered  it  with 
a  firm  step  and  a  resolute  heart.  Before  him  rode  the 
imperial  herald  seated  on  a  royal  steed.  Beside  him  in 
the  carriage  were  his  loyal  friends  Shurff,  Arnsdorff  and 
Swaren.  All  around  him  on  the  road  were  the  students 
and  citizens  of  Wittenberg  who  had  espoused  the  Ref- 
ormation, and,  invoking  God's  protection  for  the  great 
man  whom  they  loved  as  their  own  souls,  they  wept 
aloud  as  did  the  elders  of  Ephesus  when  they  parted 
from  their  beloved  Paul,  sorrowing  most  of  all  that, 
as  they  believed,  they  should  see  his  face  no  more. 
Well  has  it  been  said,  "  There  is  nothing  in  sacred  or 
profane  history  grander  than  the  self-immolation  of  this 
German  monk." 

Luther  bade  his  friends  a  tender  farewell,  and  in  a 
voice  trembling  with  emotion  urged  his  dear  Melanch- 
tlion  to  stand  fast  in  the  truth.  The  imperial  herald 
rode  on,  and  Luther  followed.  Soon  the  walls  and 
spires  of  Wittenberg  grew  dim  and  disappeared.  Lu- 
ther's purpose  did  not  waver.  Leipsic  greeted  him  as  he 
passed,  Naumberg  extended  its  hospitality  to  him, 
Weimar  sheltered  him  for  a  nio^ht ;  John  Crotus,  Hessus 
and  Justus  Jonas,  all  men  of  royal  names,  accompanied 
by  forty  horsemen  rode  out  to  meet  him  on  the  road  to 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT   WORMS.        179 

Erfurt,  then  conducted  him  with  royal  honors  into  the 
city  and  to  the  old  convent  Luther  knew  and  loved, 
where  John  Lange,  the  prior,  gave  him  an  affectionate 
welcome.  At  Eisenach — there  was  no  dearer  spot  along 
the  way — he  tarried  a  little,  memories  of  the  olden  time 
crowding  upon  him,  and  down  his  manly  face  tears  ran 
as  he  stood  under  the  window  of  his  beloved  Cotta. 
Tortured  with  pains  to  which  he  was  often  subject,  he 
passed  through  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  whence  he  sent 
this  message  to  a  friend  :  "  Christ  lives,  and  I  will  go 
to  Worms  to  brave  the  gates  of  hell  and  the  powers 
of  the  air.'^ 

When  approaching  Worms  he  received  a  message 
from  his  friend  Spalatin  urging  him  not  to  imperil  his 
life  by  entering  the  city,  to  which  Luther  replied  in 
words  which  generations  have  repeated  :  "  To  Worms 
I  was  called,  and  to  Worms  I  must  go.  And  were 
there  as  many  devils  there  as  there  are  tiles  upon  the 
roofs,  yet  would  I  enter  that  city.'^  Then  there  came 
an  invitation  from  Sickingen  to  come  to  his  castle  at 
Ebernburg,  where  he  might  transact  with  the  emperor 
through  his  confessor.  But  the  monk  was  firm :  ^'  Not 
to  Ebernburg,  but  to  Worms,  have  I  been  summoned. 
If  the  imperial  confessor  have  aught  to  say  to  me,  let 
him  seek  me  there.'' 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  April,  1521,  a  watch- 
man on  the  cathedral-tower  at  Worms,  looking  north- 
ward, saw  an  unusual  procession  approaching  the  city. 
An  imperial  herald  led  it;  close  behind  was  a  monk 
apparently  guarded  by  friends.  Just  beyond  the  city- 
w^alls  was  a  great  company  of  horsemen  riding  hurriedly 
outward  to  meet  the  approaching  cavalcade.     Across  th« 


180  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

iuterv^eniug  space  a  single  voice,  clear  and  trustful,  was 
heard  singing  a  German  hymn,  the  ^larseillaise  of  the 
Reformation : 

"  Ein  feste  Burg  ist  uuser  Gott." 

At  length  the  city-gate  is  reached  ;  crowds  are  there, 
men,  women  and  children.  Some  stand  on  tiptoe  ;  others, 
Zaccheus-like,  climb  on  the  walls  or  look  from  the  win- 
dows. "  That  is  Luther,"  says  one  and  another,  and 
hundreds  of  eyes  are  fixed  on  the  monk  who  dares  to 
confront  the  emperor  and  the  imperial  diet.  Down  the 
choked  streets  the  procession  moved.  Leffer,  the  Bava- 
rian clown,  holding  a  lighted  taper  in  one  hand,  in  the 
other  a  cross,  repeated  the  w^ords  :  "  Ecce  advenit  quem 
expectamus  in  tenebris "  (^'  Behold  he  comes  whom,  in 
the  darkness,  w^e  have  waited  for  ").  It  was  intended  as 
a  sarcasm,  but  it  was  well  said  by  Friar  Luther's  friends, 
"  Children  and  fools  tell  the  truth."  The  procession 
stopped  in  front  of  tile  mansion  of  the  Knights  of  St. 
John.  As  Luther  stepped  from  his  carriage  to  the 
ground  he  said,  "God  wall  be  with  me." 

The  followino^  mornino;  he  received  an  official  citation 
to  appear  before  Emperor  Charles  and  the  imperial  diet. 
At  four  o'clock  the  marshal  of  the  empire  notified  him 
that  his  presence  w^as  immediately  required.  For  a  lit- 
tle Luther  was  disturbed.  A  humble  monk,  with  few 
friends  and  they  comparatively  weak,  was  to  appear 
before  the  most  solemn  tribunal  in  all  the  world.  The 
imperial  herald  led  the  way ;  the  marshal  of  the  empire 
followed ;  Luther  came  last.  The  streets  were  even 
more  crowded  than  on  the  preceding  day.  Advance 
seemed   impossible.      Then    through    private   dwelling?' 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT    WORMl:^.        181 

and  contiguous  gardens  the  Reformer  was  conducted  to 
the  public  hall.  The  passage  was  filled.  Thousands 
had  anticipated  the  monk's  arrival.  As  the  latter  pressed 
his  w^ay  through  the  crowd  an  old  soldier,  who  afterward 
became  renowned  for  his  prowess  on  the  battle-ground 
of  Pavia,  laid  his  hand  on  Luther's  shoulder  and  said 
with  deep  emotion,  '^  Poor  monk  !  poor  monk  !  thou  art 
now  going  to  make  a  nobler  stand  than  I  or  any  other 
captain  have  ever  made  on  the  bloodiest  field.  But  if 
thy  cause  is  just  and  thou  art  sure  of  it,  go  forward  in 
God's  name  and  fear  nothing.  God  will  not  forsake 
thee." 

How  imposing  the  sight  which  now  meets  the  Re- 
former's eyes  !  The  youthful  emperor  in  imperial  robes 
occupies  the  august  throne.  Gathered  about  him  are 
electors,  dukes,  margraves,  archbishops,  bishops,  abbots, 
ambassadors  from  foreign  courts,  princes,  counts  and 
noble  barons,  and  before  them  the  heretic  stands  alone. 
This,  remember,  is  the  monk  whom  Leo  has  cut  oif  from 
the  Holy  Churcli  and  remanded  to  seclusion  and  silence. 
But  here  he  stands  as  did  Paul  before  the  most  noble 
Festus,  to  speak  for  himself,  and  crowned  heads  shall 
listen.  The  diet  at  Worms  exalts  itself  above  the 
pope.  The  appeal  is  taken  from  Leo  X.  to  this  German 
council.  The  holy  pontiff  is  smitten  as  with  palsy,  and, 
though  to  some  the  Reformation  seems  on  the  verge  of 
disaster,  it  is,  in  fact,  marching  grandly  on. 

The  monk  remains  motionless  and  silent  before  the 
imperial  throne.  The  assembly  is  solemn  as  eternity 
itself.  Not  a  sound  is  heard.  Presently  the  archbishop 
of  Treves,  John  ab  Eck,  not  the  turgid  orator  of  Leipsic, 
breaks  the  silence :  '^  Martin  Luther,  his  sacred  and  in- 


182  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

vincil>le  imperial  majesty  has  cited  you  before  his  throne, 
in  accordance  with  the  councils  of  the  states  of  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire,  to  require  you  to  answer  two  questions : 
First.  Do  you  acknowledge  these  books  to  have  been 
written  by  you  ?  Second.  Are  you  prepared  to  retract 
these  books  and  their  contents,  or  do  you  persist  in  the 
opinions  you  have  advanced  ?'^  Luther  glanced  at  the 
volumes  which  covered  a  table  near  by,  the  titles  of 
which  had  been  read  by  demand  of  one  of  his  friends, 
and  made  answer,  ^'  Most  gracious  emperor  !  gracious 
princes  and  lords  !  His  Imperial  Majesty  has  asked  me 
two  questions.  As  to  the  first  I  acknowledge  as  mine 
the  books  that  he  has  just  named :  I  cannot  (if  un- 
changed) deny  them.  As  to  the  second,  I  entreat  Your 
Imperial  Majesty,  with  all  humility,  to  allow  me  time 
that  I  may  answer  without  offending  against  the  woi'd 
of  God.''  The  delay  was  gmnted,  and  the  imperial 
herald  conducted  Luther  to  his  lodging.  He  was  wont 
to  be  much  alone  with  God.  In  this  solemn  transaction 
he  is  consciously  weak  and  needy.  He  carries  all  to 
Him  who  is  the  King  of  kings  and  the  Lord  of  lords. 
Again  and  again  he  cries,  "  Faithful  and  unchangeable 
God,  help  me  !  For  the  sake  of  thy  well-beloved  Son, 
who  is  my  defence,  my  shield  and  my  strong  tower, 
help  me!  Amen.  Amen."  He  is  pleading  not  so 
much  for  himself  as  for  his  beloved  Germany  and  for 
the  world,  reminding  us  of  the  prayer  of  John  Knox, 
the  garden-prayer  which  the  midnight  bore  to  heaven  : 
"  O  God,  give  me  Scotland  or  I  die  !"  From  the  secret 
place  of  prayer  the  Reformer  came  forth  clad  in  heav- 
enly armor,  calm  and  hopeful. 

The  following  day  at  four  o'clock  Luther  was  again 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT   WORMS.        183 

conducted  to  the  diet  cliamber.  For  two  hours  he  was 
detained  at  the  enti'ance,  around  him  a  surging,  excited 
throng.  At  last  the  doors  were  opened.  In  the  flicker- 
ing lights  all  objects  appeared  weird  and  solemn.  There 
was  something  strangely  ominous  in  the  hour.  Did  it 
portend  victory  for  Rome  or  defeat?  As  we  look  at  the 
sun  of  the  Reformation  half  hidden  behind  the  bare  and 
rugged  hills,  we  raise  the  question,  "  Is  it  a  rising  or  a 
setting  sun?" 

John  ab  Eck  rises  in  his  place,  and  so  also  the  Wit- 
tenberg monk.  The  questions  of  the  previous  day  were 
repeated,  and  Luther  replied  wisely.  He  said  the  books 
displayed  before  him  were  his.  As  to  retracting  those, 
he  replied  at  much  length.  His  argument  was  ingenious, 
honest  and  to  many  convincing.  He  could  not  retract 
what  even  Rome  did  not  condemn.  Many  of  his  writ- 
ings were  approved  by  Leo  and  in  harmony  with  the 
ancient  faith.  Other  books  he  knew  were  distasteful 
to  the  Church.  He  had  endeavored  in  them  to  honor 
Christ,  to  exalt  a  spiritual  cross,  to  magnify  the  doctrine 
which  now  is  sweet  to  all  enlightened  believers,  the  doc- 
trine of  justification  by  faith,  and  to  point  men  the  way 
to  heaven.  He  rested  every  statement  conscientiously — 
and,  as  he  hoped,  intelligently — upon  the  word  of  God. 
Then  he  continued  :  ^'  I  cannot  submit  my  faith  either 
to  the  pope  or  to  councils,  because  it  is  clear  as  the  day 
that  they  have  often  erred.  Unless,  therefore,  I  am  con- 
vinced by  the  testimony  of  Scripture  or  by  the  clearest 
reasoning,  I  cannot  and  I  loill  not  retract.  Here  I  stand  • 
I  can  do  no  other.  May  God  help  me  !  Amen.''  What 
a  scene  was  that !  What  strange  words  were  those  !  The 
inspiration  of  Heaven  was  in  the  hour  and  in  that  noble  tes- 

13 


184  ROMAN JSM  AND    THE  REFORMERS. 

timony  for  the  truth.  How  grandly  the  Wittenberg 
monk  stands  forth  on  that  solemn  battle-ground,  a 
mightier  than  I^eonidas  in  the  mountain-pass !  Empe- 
rors, electors,  dukes  and  representatives  of  Rome  look 
wrathfully  down,  thirsting  for  his  blood,  and  the  monk 
whom  they  stigmatize  as  a  Bohemian  recalls  the  trial  in 
the  old  miinster  at  Constance  on  the  Rhine,  when  Sigis- 
muud  and  Hallam  sat  in  the  mock  trial,  and  John  Huss 
was  sent  forth  with  the  maledictions  of  the  so-called 
vicar  of  Christ  on  his  head  to  burn  on  the  clover-field 
beyond  the  city-gate.  But  Luther  is  calm,  and  he  only 
is.  God  is  with  him  ;  truth  is  on  his  side.  Heaven, 
with  its  sweet  peace,  awaits  him  beyond  the  conflicts 
of  this  soon-to-be-ended  life. 

Aleander,  the  advocate  of  Rome,  whose  eloquence 
papah  historians  have  exalted,  whose  defence  of  Leo's 
damnatory  bull  secured  him  the  gratitude  of  a  corrupt 
Church,  whose  efforts  to  secure  Luther's  condemnation 
had  been  aided  by  the  bribes  Julius  de  Medicis  had  sent 
from  Rome,  was  deeply  humiliated  by  the  monk's  sig- 
nal triumph,  and  would  gladly  have  committed  the  lat- 
ter to  the  flames,  so  stifling  the  Reformation  at  its  birth. 
But  the  elector  of  Saxony  was  on  Luther's  side.  Cau- 
tious and  calm,  he  advanced  with  a  measured  but  reso- 
lute step,  and  with  him  were  many  leading  men  in 
Church  and  State,  seeking  only  the  interests  of  truth 
at  any  cost.  The  power  of  the  pope  was  broken. 
Minds  long  fettered  by  papal  decretals  were  casting 
off  their  chains.  Dry  bones  in  the  valley  of  vision 
were  astir,  fellow  meeting  its  fellow,  and  a  mighty 
army  clad  in  the  panoply  of  heaven  was  ready  to 
spring  to  its  feet  and  fight  for  the  faith  Paul  preached 


LUTHER  AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT   WORMS.       185 

and  ill  which  apostles  died.  '^  The  day  of  the  diet  of 
Worms,"  said  Philip  Melanchthon,  "is  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  glorious  days  given  to  the  earth  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  world.'' 

France  caught  the  beams  of  the  rising  sun.  England 
saw  the  advancing  light  beyond  the  Channel.  Italy 
sought  the  shadow  of  the  pontifical  throne,  wondering 
what  the  issue  would  be. 

But  the  days  of  Luther's  safe-conduct  are  passing 
and  his  departure  must  be  hastened.  On  the  26th  of 
April  he  left  his  lodgings,  having  committed  himself 
and  his  cause  to  the  care  of  God.  Accursed  of  the 
Church,  condemned  by  the  emperor,  his  books  burn- 
ing on  the  streets  of  Worms  and  enemies  seeking  his 
life,  he  walked  calmly  forth,  entered  his  carriage  and 
preceded,  as  when  he  came,  by  the  imperial  herald, 
surrounded  by  horsemen  and  crowds  of  sympathizing 
friends  or  jeering  foes,  he  passed  out  the  northern  gate. 
For  the  present  his  person  is  comparatively  safe,  for 
Charles  dare  not  break  his  royal  word.  But  he  has 
decreed  the  seizure  of  the  heretic  at  the  end  of  the  safe- 
conduct,  purposing  to  terminate  the  Reformation  by  the 
banishment  or  death  of  the  defiant  monk.  The  caval- 
cade journeyed  northward.  At  Friedberg,  Luther  wrote 
to  the  emperor  and  the  states  assembled  at  Worms,  ad- 
dressing both  in  respectful  terms,  but  reminding  them 
that  God  and  his  word  were  above  principalities  and 
powers.  These  letters  he  gave  to  the  imperial  herald, 
and  permitted  him  to  return  to  his  master,  preferring 
to  pursue  his  journey  without  the  stipulated  protection. 
X  mile  from  Hirschfeldt  the  chancellor  of  the  monas- 
tery, accompanied    by  a  troop    of  cavaliers  despatched 


186  ROiMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

by  the  abbot  Milius,  met  Luther  and  escorted  him  into 
the  city  and,  regardless  of  the  imperial  edict  which  for- 
bade the  excommunicated  monk  to  preach,  the  walls  of 
the  old  monastery  reverberated  with  the  words  of  life, 
the  abbot  and  monks  receiving  the  truth  with  joy. 
Again,  at  his  dear  Eisenach,  he  told  the  story  of  re- 
deeming love,  and  although  some  opposed  him  on  mere 
prudential  grounds,  it  was  quite  evident  that  the  most 
who  heard  him,  turning  their  backs  on  Leo,  were  ready 
to  crown  Jesus  Lord  of  all. 

Now  Luther  and  his  attendants  are  entering  the 
Thuringian  Forest.  Heavy  shadows  stretch  across  the 
road.  The  winds  are  sighing  among  the  trees.  Nature 
in  its  sober  mood  hushes  the  voices  of  the  travelers  as 
they  ride  thoughtfully  on.  Suddenly  horsemen  armed 
and  masked  issue  from  the  woods.  Luther's  compan- 
ions leap  to  the  ground  and  disappear  in  the  depths 
of  the  forest.  Luther  himself,  scarcely  realizing  what 
is  being  done,  is  seized  by  the  horsemen,  who  throw 
around  him  a  military  cloak  and  then  bear  him  away 
through  the  darkness,  along  a  circuitous  path  and  up 
a  steep  mountain-slope,  coming  at  last  to  an  old  castle 
named  the  Wartburg,  standing  silent  and  grim  in  the 
depths  of  the  forest  on  a  lonely  height.  The  draw- 
bridge is  lowered,  and  Luther  crosses  it.  The  gates  are 
opened,  then  closed  behind  him.  The  monk  is  a  pris- 
oner. But  friendly  hands  have  brought  him  hither. 
Frederick  the  elector  has  thus  secured  him  from  vio- 
lence, and  none  dares  wliisper  the  secret,  for  Charles 
and  Leo  will  scour  the  land  if  haply  they  may  find 
the  heretic  and  make  him  lick  the  dust. 

Here   for   a    little   we  leave   the   hero  of  our  story; 


LUTHER   AT  LEIPSIC  AND  AT   WORMS.        187 

Kniglit  George,  the  name  by  which  Wartburg  knows 
him,  the  garb  of  a  monk  exchanged  for  a  soklier's  dress. 
God  has  cared  for  Luther.  In  the  diet  of  Worms  ho 
stood  alone;  yet  not  alone,  for  God  was  with  him. 
And  as  he  looked  upon  the  serried  host  led  on  by  Em- 
peror Charles  and  Pope  Leo  in  the  might  of  state  and 
ecclesiastical  power,  with  eyes  aflame  and  weapons  set, 
urged  on  by  prejudice,  lust  and  hate,  bearing  down  upon 
him,  a  lone  Augustinian  monk,  he  could  say  with  Paul, 
"  None  of  these  things  move  me,''  and  with  Elisha  at 
Dothan,  "  They  that  be  with  me  are  more  than  they 
that  be  with  them." 

The  pope,  the  stirrup  of  whose  saddle  emperors  had 
held  as  he  vaulted  into  his  seat,  whose  jeweled  slipper 
crowned  heads  had  kissed,  before  whose  anathemas 
thrones  had  tottered,  cannot  touch  without  God's  per- 
mission even  a  hair  of  Luther's  head  ;  and  until  his 
work  is  finished  the  monk  is  immortal  as  his  Lord, 
though  a  thousand  fall  at  his  side  and  ten  thousand  at 
his  right  hand. 

We  admire  the  faith  that  walked  calmly  into  the  very 
jaws  of  death.  We  find  the  interpretation  of  it  in  the 
secret  place  of  prayer — the  hours  creeping  on,  the  night 
deepening,  the  gray  dawn  climbing  the  eastern  sky,  and 
Luther  on  his  knees  clasping  an  omnipotent  hand 
and  walking  among  invisible  worlds.  With  passions 
such  as  ours,  with  temptations  such  as  girt  us  around, 
with  a  will  and  temper  that  were  often  a  snare,  he  tri  - 
uraphed  over  external  foes  and  foes  within,  and  grand- 
ly triumphed,  fearing  nothing  so  much  as  sin,  hating 
nothing  so  much  as  a  lie,  and  longing  for  nothing  so 
much  as  the  world's  salvation  through  the  cross  ;  and 


188  ROMANfSM  AXD    THE  REFORMERS. 

when  God    comnianded  it  was    his  to  do  and,  if  need 
be,  die. 


"  What !  shall  one  monk,  scarce  known  beyond  his  cell, 
Front  Kome's  far-reaching  bolts,  and  scorn  her  frown  ? 
Brave  Luther  answered,  'Yes;'  that  thunder  swell 
Rocked  Europe,  and  discharged  the  triple  crown." 


LUTHER'S  LAST  Di^YS, 


'*  As  much  as  in  me  is,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  gospel  to 

you  that  are  at  Rome  also.'' 

Rom.  I  :  15. 

"  Therefore  being  justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  fesus  Christ.'" 

Rom.  5:1. 

"  The  Lord  fesus,  by  his  perfect  obedience  and  sac^dfice  oj 
himself,  which  he  through  the  eternal  Spirit  once  offered  up 
unto  God,  hath  fully  satisfied  the  justice  of  his  Father;  and 
purchased  not  only  reconciliation,  but  an  everlasting  inherit- 
ance i7i  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  for  all  those  whom  the  Father 
hath  given  tmto  him.'" 

Cox.  Faith,  chap.  vii.  sec.  v. 

"  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  7ny  course,  I 
have  kept  the  faith.'' 

2  Tim.  4  :  7. 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS. 


&OD  is  in  all  history,  sacred  and  profane.  His  prov- 
idence is  illustrated  by  every  page  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, in  the  books  of  the  Kings  and  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  It  is  none  the  less  conspicuous  in  the  history 
of  the  Augustan  age,  the  Peloponuesian  War,  and  the 
great  Reformation.  Useful  lessons  may  be  drawn  from 
these  sources.  And  especially  does  the  recovery  of 
gospel  truth,  with  the  instrumentalities  by  which  this 
was  achieved  and  the  incidents  which  marked  its  prog- 
ress, claim  our  devout  and  grateful  study. 

God  was  with  Luther  as  ceiiaiuly  as  he  was  with  Paul. 
By  human  agencies  he  originated  the  apostolic  Church, 
and  by  like  instrumentalities  he  restored  it.  Although 
Luther  was  an  uninspired  man  and  added  nothing  to 
the  sacred  canon,  yet  he  wrought  under  the  divine  direc- 
tion and  was  supported  by  divine  power.  Hence  all 
that  pertains  to  his  life  and  work  is  of  interest  to  the 
Christian.  We  resume  our  studies  of  the  Reformation 
and  our  observation  of  Luther  in  the  hope  of  knowing 
God  better  and  of  being  more  firmly  established  in 
gospel  truth. 

In  the  judgment  of  many  historians  the  interest  in 
the  life  of  Martin  Luther  culminated  at  the  diet  of 
Worms.  At  no  period  perhaps  does  he  appear  to  a 
greater  advantage  or  impress  the  world  more  profoundly 

191 


192  EOMANJSM  ASn   THE  REFORMERS. 

JLS  a  polemic  and  moral  hero,  a  giant  among  men,  called 
of  God  to  the  greatest  work  of  these  latter  ages.  He 
stands  before  us  as  some  mountain-height  which,  lower- 
ing above  the  lower  peaks,  pierces  the  clouds  and  is  lost 
to  sight. 

But  although  the  subsequent  career  of  Luther  contai un- 
less that  is  impressively  heroic  and  furnishes  fewer  oc- 
casions for  his  impetuous  eloquence,  yet  it  is  marked  with 
even  greater  and  more  beneficent  results.  The  moun- 
tain-torrent, which  in  its  descent  swept  everything  be- 
fore it  and  startled  vast  solitudes  with  its  roar,  flows 
quietly  through  plains,  and  in  its  progress  is  less  observed, 
but  more  useful,  irrigating  great  spaces,  quenching  the 
thirst  of  men  and  of  lowing  herds,  bearing  on  its  bosom 
the  traffic  of  empires,  whilst  great  cities  line  its  shores. 
So  the  more  rugged  features  of  Luther's  character  are 
displaced  by  the  serener  elements  which  beautify  a  peace- 
ful domesticity  and  enrich  the  life  of  a  resuscitated 
Church. 

We  resume  our  narrative  with  the  Reformer's  sudden 
disappearance  after  the  diet  of  Worms.  Germany  in- 
quires for  him,  but  no  answer  is  given.  When  last  seen 
he  was  entering  the  forests  of  Thuringia.  Since  then 
no  tidings  of  him  have  reached  any  city  or  hamlet  of  the 
land.  It  is  known  that  the  period  of  his  safe-conduct 
was  at  an  end  when  he  disappeared  in  that  solemn  wood. 
Violent  hands,  say  many,  have  no  doubt  terminated  his 
life.  Even  Wartburg  furnishes  no  solution  to  the  pain- 
ful mystery,  for,  so  far  as  is  known  to  the  keepers  of  the 
old  castle,  Luther  has  not  passed  that  way.  The  grief 
of  his  friends  is  great.  A  light  wdiicli  had  risen  on  the 
horizon  of  their  darkness  has  suddenly  dropped  behind 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  J 93 

the  hill.s,  and  a  profouuder  night  has  come.  What  shall 
the  future  of  Germany  be  ?  By  whom  shall  the  Church 
arise  ?  The  enemies  of  the  Reformer  are  alarmed.  Leo 
fears  the  worst.  An  avalanche  of  wrath  may  descend 
from  the  North  and  bury  the  papal  throne.  The  arch- 
bishop of  Mayence  is  startled  by  a  message  from  a  faith- 
ful papist :  "  I  fear  that  we  shall  scarce  escape  with  our 
lives  if  we  do  not  everywhere  seek  him  (Luther)  witli 
lanterns  and  call  him  back  again.'' 

Luther  is  safe  at  Wartburg.  Friendly  hands  bore 
him  thither.  He  enjoys  for  the  time  the  seclusion  of 
the  castle.  Worn  by  the  excitement  incident  to  the  diet 
at  Worms  and  the  dangerous  journey  which  followed  it, 
he  rests  quietly  in  the  old  fortress  or  walks  unmolested 
along  the  avenues  of  the  contiguous  woods.  From  the 
"region  of  air  and  bird-songs,"  as  he  describes  the 
Wartburg,  "  where  birds  from  their  liomes  in  the  trees 
do  continually  praise  God ;  from  the  isle  of  Patmos,'' 
he  looks  across  the  great  battlefield  whence  he  has  come, 
and  sweetly  sings,  in  harmony  with  the  voices  of  the 
wood,  his  favorite  psalm,  "The  Lord  is  our  refuge  and 
strength,  a  very  present  helj)  in  trouble." 

But  Luther's  imagination,  fruitful  as  Bunyan's  in  a 
later  day,  began  to  people  the  cell  of  his  prison  with 
evil  spirits  summoned  from  the  invisible  world.  Charles 
and  John  ab  Eck  and  Aleander  do  not  intrude  upon  his 
privacy  and  have  no  power  to  disturb  or  destroy,  but 
the  Prince  of  the  air  and  subordinate  spirits  crowd  the 
stairways,  whisper  their  jibes  along  the  corridors,  and 
even  force  their  way  through  solid  walls  that  they  may 
buffet  and  torment  the  worn  and  weary  exile.  The  phys- 
ical reaction  which  succeeded  the  conflict  at  Worms,  and 


194  ROMANISM  AXD   THE  REFORMERS. 

the  attendant  exhaustion  of  mental  power,  may  furnish 
at  least  a  partial  explanation  for  the  hallucinations  which 
entered  his  prison-life.  Then,  too,  he  was  not  released 
from  the  superstitions  which  marked  the  age,  to  the 
power  of  which  he  was  a  ready  prey.  On  a  day  ever 
memorable  to  him — if  the  story  is  true — when  busied 
with  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  the  devil 
entered  the  room  and  attempted  to  wrest  the  manuscript 
from  Luther's  grasp.  The  spirit  of  the  latter  was  roused, 
and  he  hurled  his  ink-bottle  at  his  hateful  foe.  The  fly- 
ing missile  seemed  to  penetrate  the  spectre  and  smote  the 
wall.  To-day  the  visitor  in  the  Wartburg  Castle  is 
shown  an  indentation  on  the  wall,  vandal  hands  hav- 
ing removed  the  plastered  surface  which  bore  the  tracies 
of  the  effective  weapon. 

Relieved  of  future  interruption  from  this  source,  he 
completed  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament.  Rome 
had  withheld  the  word  of  God  from  the  people ;  Luther 
longed  to  give  it  to  them.  Knowledge  is  life ;  ignorance, 
death.  He  rejoiced  in  the  prospect  of  scattering  far 
and  wide  the  leaves  he  had  plucked  from  the  tree  of 
revelation,  and  hoped  to  advance  the  Reformation  by 
these  more  rapidly  than  by  the  words  he  had  spoken. 

He  also  wrote  his  comments  on  the  Gospels  and  the 
Epistles  for  Sundays  and  festival  days,  and  prepared  a  vig- 
orous philippic  ^^Against  the  Idol  in  Halle,''  or  tlie  system 
of  indulgences  revived  in  that  city  by  Albert,  archbishop 
of  Mayenoe.  The  publication  of  the  latter  was  withheld 
at  the  request  of  the  elector  Frederick,  but  Luther  wrote 
a  letter  to  Albert  threatening  the  issue  of  this  formidable 
treatise  in  case  the  latter  did  not  desist  within  two  weeks 
from  his  nefarious  traffic.     The  archbishop  was  startled 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  195 

by  this  letter  from  the  Witteuberg  friar,  whom  he  had 
supposed  dead.  It  was  a  voice  of  thimder  from  the 
cloudless  sky.  He  deemed  it  best  to  escape  the  threat- 
ened storm,  aud  terminated  at  once  the  sale  of  indul- 
gences, sending  also  a  singularly  meek  reply  to  the  man 
whom  he  feared  more  than  Leo  X.  or  the  Prince  of 
darkness. 

About  this  time  Luther  renewed  his  efforts  to  break 
down  the  system  of  monasticism,  which  endangered  the 
consciences  and  souls  of  many.  He  could  find  no  argu- 
ment for  it  in  the  word  of  God  ;  he  could  find  many 
arguments  against  it.  He  would  have  the  monks 
abandon  their  cells,  resume  their  mendicancy  and  live 
more  honorable  lives.  Marriage,  he  insisted,  was  an 
institution  of  God  for  the  good  of  the  race.  Besides, 
the  indolent  habits  of  the  monks  were  a  reproach  to  the 
Church,  now  that  God  was  calling  men  to  earnest  work 
in  an  aw  which  must  tell  on  as^es  to  come. 

Carlstadt,  the  impetuous  Reformer,  thought  to  put 
into  practice  the  principles  enunciated  by  the  absent 
Luther,  but  his  fiery  zeal  outran  the  prudence  of  his 
teacher.  He  turned  iconoclast  and  inaugurated  the  most 
ruthless  destruction  of  all  that  pertained  to  monasticism. 
He  also  overturned  the  altars  of  superstition  in  the 
churches,  tore  down  the  pictures  and  attempted  numer- 
ous radical  changes  in  old  customs,  threatening  the  Ref- 
ormation even  in  its  stroup-hold  at  Wittenbero;. 

Tidings  of  this  were  borne  to  the  old  burg  of  the 
landgraves,  and  Luther  resolved  to  hasten  to  the  dis- 
tracted city.  He  left  Wartburg,  not  expecting  to  return. 
Down  the  pathway  of  the  woods  he  urges  his  way,  turn- 
ing now  and  then,  it  may  be,  a  glance  toward  the  castle 


196  ROMANISM  AND  THE  BEFOBMEBS. 

whose  gray  walls  and  solemn  towers  are  soon  to  disap- 
pear. His  Patmos  is  about  to  be  exchanged  for  a  sea  of 
strife.  But  he  who  was  prepared  to  fight  wild  beasts  in 
the  Thuringian  forests  and  wilder  men  at  Worms,  is 
ready  to  lay  down  his  life  at  Wittenberg  if  duty  so  re- 
quire. With  this  purpose  he  hastens  on,  and  Wartburg 
fades  from  sight.  And  now  he  is  to  appear  in  a  new 
role.  Heretofore  he  has  been  a  radical  Reformer.  Now 
he  is  to  enter  the  field  of  conservatism  and  contend  with 
injudicious  friends.  He  will  abate  not  one  jot  or  tittle 
of  his  devotion  to  the  great  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith.  Christ  and  his  cross  shall  still  be  his  theme.  But 
he  will  check,  if  possible,  the  iconoclasm  that  .has  in- 
censed a  loyal  people.  The  pendulum  has  swung  too 
far.  Truth  lies  between  extremes.  We  admire  tlie 
spirit  and  purpose  of  Luther  on  his  way  to  Wittenberg. 

There  occurred  a  scene  at  Jena  which  giv^es  an  insight 
into  the  character  of  Luther  which  is  both  pleasing  and 
suggestive.  The  great  warrior  is  pre-eminently  hu- 
man. His  social  magnetism  is  equal  to  his  public 
address. 

Two  Swiss  students  enter  Jena  on  their  way  to  Wit- 
tenberg They  have  sought  in  vain  for  lodging.  It  is 
Shrove  Tuesday,  and  the  strangers  do  not  readily  com- 
mand attention.  But  at  length  they  are  admitted  to 
the  door  of  the  Black  Bear.  Being  shown  into  a  wait- 
ing-room, tlieir  garments  much  travel-stained,  they  seek 
a  retired  corner,  whence  they  make  observations  as  guests 
come  and  go.  At  a  writing-table  sits  a  man  of  distin- 
guished appearance.  He  wears  a  military  dress.  His 
right  hand  clasps  his  sword  at  his  side ;  his  left  holds  a 
manuscript.    His  head  is  covered  with  a  red  leather  cap. 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  197 

From  beneath  heavy  brows  look  forth  black,  sparkling, 
penetrating  eyes,  from  whose  gaze  the  young  men  shrink 
as  from  the  day  of  judgment.  Yet  he  is  gentle  and  kind, 
and  soon  wins  their  confidence.  They  enter  into  con- 
versation with  this  man  of  the  mountains.  The  latter, 
learning  that  they  are  going  to  Wittenberg,  casually  re- 
marks that  they,  being  natives  of  Switzerland,  will  there 
meet  two  eminent  countrymen,  Jerome  Schurp  and 
Augustine  Schurp,  his  brother.  They  are  surprised 
to  hear  this  martial  guest  speak  so  intelligently  of  the 
retired  scholars.  "We  have  letters  of  introduction  to 
these  persons,"  says  one  of  the  students. 

The  stranger  seems  familiar  with  all  the  great  scholars 
of  the  age,  and  is  on  intimate  terms  with  many  of  them. 
Besides,  he  is  himself  learned  in  the  ancient  languages 
and  holds  in  his  hand  a  Hebrew  Psalter.  Presently  the 
innkeeper  enters.  They  ask  him  if  he  knows  where 
Martin  Luther  is — at  Wittenberg  or  elsewhere.  The 
host  replies  that  two  days  before  Luther  had  been  in 
that  room,  and  had  sat  beside  that  very  table  where  this 
knight  is  sitting.  They  expressed  their  great  regret  that 
they  had  not  been  present.  What  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  noted  friar  has  been  lost !  But  they  are  glad 
to  sit  in  the  same  room  in  which  he  sat. 

Presently  two  merchants  enter.  One  of  them  holds 
in  his  hand  a  copy  of  Martin  Luther^s  commentary  on 
Galatians.  He  speaks  of  it  with  much  interest,  and 
asks  the  knight  if  he  has  ever  seen  it.  The  latter  re- 
plies that  he  expects  soon  to  secure  a  copy.  Overhearing 
their  conversation  with  the  innkeeper,  the  knight  learns 
that  the  merchants  are  poor,  and  he  whispers  to  the  host 
that  he  will  gladly  receive  them  as  his  guests.     They 


198  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

esteem  the  honor  equal  to  the  kindness.  They  resume 
their  reflections  on  Luther  and  his  work.  Who  in  all 
Germany  is  not  talking  about  that  wonderful  monk- 
man  ?  One  of  them  says,  "  I  am  a  plain,  unlettered 
man,  but  my  judgment  is  that  Luther  is  an  angel  out  of 
heaven  or  a  devil  out  of  hell."  The  merchants  retired, 
and  soon  after  this  the  stranger  rose,  drew  his  doublet 
closely  about  his  person,  then,  grasping  the  hands  of  the 
young  students,  gave  them  his  blessing  and  bade  them 
convey  his  greetings  to  Jerome  Schurf.  "  Whose  greet- 
ings f^  they  ask. — "  Tell  him  only  this.  He  that  cometh 
seudeth  his  greetings."  He  then  passed  out  of  the  room. 
If  Charles  Y.  or  Leo  X.  had  been  present  the  students 
could  not  have  been  more  impressed,  for  his  bearing, 
conversation  and  indefinable  power  over  them  marked 
him  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  the  age.  Per- 
haps even  Martin  Luther^s  presence  would  not  have 
been  a  source  of  greater  wonderment  and  delight.  Cer- 
tainly not.  For  that  knight  who  had  just  gone  to  his 
chamber  and  will  resume  his  journey  with  the  early 
morning  is  Martin  Luther  himself. 

Having  arrived  at  Wittenberg,  Luther  set  to  work 
to  undo  the  mischief  Carlstadt  had  done.  His  efforts 
were  successful,  and  soon  there  came  to  the  late  excited 
city  a  calm  like  that  which  rested  on  the  Galilean  lake 
when  the  winds  were  hushed.  It  is  well  that  he  came 
from  the  Wartburg  to  accomplish  so  great  a  result. 
Mighty  to  raise  a  tempest,  he  was  also  mighty  to  subdue 
the  storm. 

About  this  time  Henry  VIII. ,  king  of  England,  then 
thirty-one  years  of  age,  vain  and  ambitious,  stopped  in 
the  midst  of  his  rounds  of  pleasure,  and,  absenting  him- 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  199 

self  from  balls,  banquets  and  tournaments,  sat  down 
and  wrote  a  book.  He  said  he  would  save  the  Church 
which  silly  fanatics  threatened.  "  I  will  receive  in  my 
bosom  the  poisoned  arrows  of  her  assailants."  It  was 
not  wounds  he  coveted,  but  some  honorable  title  from 
the  pope  that  would  put  him  on  a  level  with  the  more 
favored  kings  of  France  and  Spain.  The  modest  title 
of  his  book  is,  "  Defence  of  the  Seven  Sacraments  against 
Martin  Luther,  by  the  most  invincible  king  of  England 
and  France,  lord  of  IreUmd,  Henry  the  Eighth  of  that 
name."  He  wrote  with  royal  contempt  of  Luther. 
The  mendicant  monk  was  crushed  for  ever,  as  Henry 
supposed,  under  the  heel  of  his  holy  wratli.  He  accom- 
plished his  main  purpose,  for  he  received  from  the  pope 
the  title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  and  the  same  has 
come  down  the  royal  line  until  the  present.  The  papacy 
was  jubilant.  The  Tudor  king  was  mightier  than  the 
German  Reformer. 

Luther's  indio;nation  was  unbounded.  His  friends 
sought  to  quiet  him,  but  in  vain.  He  flung  his  answer 
in  the  face  of  the  English  throne.  It  was  a  fearless 
defence  of  the  truth  in  opposition  to  the  empty  sophisms 
of  the  king.  Its  spirit  was  not  wholly  Christian,  yet  it 
needs  less  apology  than  many  suppose.  Luther  insisted 
that  he  was  at  liberty  to  reply  in  terms  of  supreme  con- 
tempt to  the  man  in  perishable  purple  who  dared  to 
blaspheme  the  King  of  kings  and  by  impudent  false- 
hoods profane  his  holy  name.  At  the  same  time,  his 
arguments  were  drawn  from  the  word  of  God.  He 
magnified  the  cross  and  the  intercession  of  Jesus  Christ. 
He  bowed  adoringly  before  the  eternal  throne,  and  gave 
all  honor  unto  Him  to  whom  all  allegiance  is  due. 


200  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Shortly  after  this  Luther's  version  of  the  German  Tes- 
tament, completed  at  Wartburg  Castle,  and  revised,  with 
Melanchthon's  assistance,  at  Wittenberg,  was  issued  and 
scattered  broadcast  over  Germany.  Soon  there  followed 
portions  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  ultimately  the  entire 
word  of  God. 

Leo  X.  was  dead  and  Adrian  VL  occupied  St.  Peter's 
chair.  The  new  pope,  with  even  greater  determination 
than  his  predecessor,  endeavored  to  crush  the  pestilential 
heresy.  But  the  truth  would  not  down.  It  claimed  the 
earth  and  eternity  as  its  own.  Adrian  occupied  the 
papal  throne  for  the  short  space  of  one  year,  and  was 
followed  by  Clement  YIL,  a  member  of  the  Medici 
family,  who  thought  to  accomplish  what  Adrian  had 
failed  to  do.  The  diet  of  Nuremberg  was  again  con- 
vened ;  stormy  days  were  coming  on.  Earthly  kingdoms 
were  threatened.  Frederick's  destruction  is  demanded. 
Charles  V.  swears  this  friend  of  heresy  shall  perish. 
Luther  has  left  his  stronghold  in  the  mountains,  and 
he  who  defies  each  papal  bull  shall  be  silenced  by  the 
sword.  But  God  is  watching  over  the  interests  of  the 
truth.  His  Son  shall  be  King  in  Zion  ;  men  shall  know 
the  way  of  life,  and  the  gospel  shall  extend  from  the 
Baltic  to  the  islands  beyond  the  English  Channel.  The 
imperial  diet  disregarded  the  commands  of  Clement  to 
crush  the  Reformer.  The  principles  of  the  Reformation 
were  accepted  in  the  chief  cities  of  Germany;  Albert 
of  Brandenburg,  grand-master  of  the  Teutonic  Knights, 
and  his  bishop,  George  von  Pol  en  z,  and  Erhard  von 
Queiss,  espoused  Luther's  cause.  But  many  who  had 
been  in  sympathy  with  him  grew  fearful  when  they  saw 
the  storm  was  abroad.     They  would  have  peace,  though 


e 
or- 


LUTIIEE'S  LAST  DAYS.  20l 

tlie  papacy  should,  for  the  present,  live  on.  Even  John 
Staupitz  shrunk  into  the  shadow,  and  Erasmus  assailed 
the  Reformer.  But  Luther  was  not  deflected  from  his 
course.  He  planted  churches.  He  gathered  the  peopl 
to  read  the  word  of  God,  to  sing  his  praise  and  to  w 
ship  his  only  Sou.  He  cared  with  diligence  for  the 
young.  A  system  of  education  was  established  whicli 
has  continued  until  now,  the  glory  of  that  time  and  of 
each  succeeding  age.  The  War  of  the  Peasants  threw  a 
dark  shadow  across  the  track  of  the  Reformation.  The 
sword  was  unsheathed,  and  by  it  a  misguided  people 
thought  to  put  down  the  papacy  and  declare  the  people 
free.  Foes  in  Luther's  own  household  were  more  to  be 
dreaded  by  him  than  external  enemies.  In  Southern 
Germany  insurrection  prevailed.  Cloisters  and  castles 
were  burned  and  the  waves  of  flames  swept  on. 

Luther  issued  an  address  against  the  peasants,  and 
called  upon  all  who  were  loyal  to  the  truth  to  resist 
their  suicidal  measures  with  the  sword.  The  fanatical 
Miinzer,  claiming  to  act  under  divine  direction,  leading 
a  force  of  eight  thousand  men,  was  signally  defeated  in 
the  battle  of  Frankenhausen  in  Thuringia,  and  he  him- 
self was  executed  for  his  crimes.  Thus  the  revolt  was 
arrested,  and  soon  thereafter  brought  to  an  end.  Sub- 
mission to  civil  authority  was  restored  and  tlie  Reforma- 
tion advanced  by  more  peaceful  means. 

In  the  midst  of  this  insurrection  the  elector  Frederick 
died.  He  had  been  one  of  the  most  judicious  friends 
of  the  Reformation,  and  was  warmly  attached  to  Luther. 
Under  the  shield  of  his  official  influence  the  gospel  had 
been  widely  extended  in  Germany,  and  his  name  has 
been   held   in   grateful   remembrance   by  the   Reformed 


202  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Church  from  that  time  until  the  present.  Duke  John 
succeeded  him  as  the  elector  of  Saxony,  and  exercised 
his  authority  with  like  wisdom. 

Now,  for  the  first  time,  Luther  puts  off  the  garb  of 
an  Augustine  monk  and  assumes  a  less  distinctive  dress. 
He  is  in  appearance  and  spirit  a  monk  no  longer. 
Many  who  have  been  associated  with  him  in  monastic 
life  have  entered  into  the  marriage  relation,  deeming  it 
right  to  break  the  vow  of  celibacy,  for  which  there  was 
no  divine  authority.  As  for  himself,  he  anticipated  the 
death  of  a  heretic  and  preferred  to  live  alone.  But  it 
afterward  appeared  to  him  that  this  course  might  be 
misinterpreted  and  used  to  the  disadvantage  of  a  divine 
ordinance,  and  he  concluded  to  marry,  that,  as  he  ex- 
pressed it,  he  might  spite  the  devil.  He  was  doubtless 
moved  to  this  course  by  other  and  more  tender  consid- 
erations. 

On  a  pleasant  summer  evening  in  June,  1525,  a  few 
of  Luther's  friends  gathered  at  his  house  and  witnessed 
his  marriage  to  Catherine  von  Bora,  a  nun,  born  of  a 
noble  family,  who  with  eight  other  nuns  had  escaped 
from  tlie  cloister  and  come  to  Wittenberg.  This  mar- 
riage was  of  course  severely  condemned  by  the  papists, 
and  even  many  of  the  Reformers  were  slow  to  give 
their  approval.  But  it  was  clearly  ordered  of  the 
Lord.  It  was  blessed  to  Luther,  mellowing  his  char- 
acter, enlarging  his  usefulness  and  smoothing  the  way 
to  his  final  rest.  Luther  and  his  Katie,  in  compliance 
with  the  instructions  of  John  Frederick,  the  new  elec- 
tor, occupied  the  monastery,  from  which  all  the  Augus- 
tines  had  departed.  The  old  castellated  building  may 
still   be  seen,  near  by  one  of  the  city-gates.     In  con- 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  203 

iiection  with  this  the  remark  of  Gustav  Freytag  may 
well  be  quoted  :  ''  From  that  time  the  husband,  the 
father,  the  citizen  became  likewise  the  reformer  of  the 
domestic  life  of  his  nation/'  and  to-day  Romanist  and 
Protestant  alike  partake  of  inestimable  benefits  which 
j)roceeded  from  the  marriage  of  the  Wittenberg  monk. 

Several  years  of  comparative  quiet  succeeded  the  War 
of  the  Peasants.  Luther  prosecuted  his  work  in  his 
study,  sending  fortli  his  writings  to  all  parts  of  Ger- 
many and  enjoying  the  comforts  of  his  Christian  home. 
He  continued  at  this  time  to  promote  popular  education. 
This  he  considered  one  of  the  most  important  agents  of 
human  progress.  By  it  he  claimed  the  masses  would  be 
elevated,  released  from  the  shackles  of  superstition  and 
from  the  power  of  Rome.  ''  Papacy,"  he  said,  "  hates 
popular  education,  and  turns  the  key  of  the  massive  dun- 
geon upon  it.  Where  the  liberal  arts  are  cultivated  her 
baneful  light  is  quenched  in  a  more  dazzling  effulgence." 
Previous  to  this  time  nearly  all  learning  had  been  con- 
fined to  the  monasteries.  The  Reformation  emancipated 
it,  and  not  only  the  profounder  pursuits  of  the  cloister, 
but  poetry,  painting  and  the  fine  arts,  have  traveled 
abroad  through  a  regenerated  earth.  Rome  to  this 
day  opposes  education ;  she  denounces  public  schools, 
and  holds  her  children  under  her  power  by  retaining 
them  in  ignorance,  the  so-called  mother  of  devotion. 

In  course  of  time  Luther  was  visited  with  sickness 
which  threatened  his  life,  during  which  he  repeatedly 
avowed  his  faith  in  Christ,  his  adherence  to  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Reformation  and  his  desire  to  depart  and  be 
with  the  Lord.  But  He  who  kills  and  makes  alive 
brought  him  back  from  the  gates  of  the  grave. 


204  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Then  the  plague  visited  Wittenberg,  and,  although 
the  university  was  removed  to  Jena,  Luther  remained  at 
honnj,  doing  what  he  could  to  alleviate  suffering  and  to 
point  the  dying  the  way  to  God.  After  the  plague  had 
abated  he  issued  his  catechisms,  a  great  aid  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  doctrinal  knowledge.  For  although  the 
people  could  repeat  the  creed,  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the 
ten  commandments,  they  were  in  deplorable  ignorance 
of  the  great  indwelling  principles  of  Christian  faith  and 
practice.  But  when  the  Bible  and  catechisms  entered  into 
the  homes  of  Germany  the  people  began  to  ascend  in  the 
scale  of  being,  and  the  land  of  the  Protestants  ultimately 
became  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord. 

The  progress  of  the  truth  increased  the  hostility  of 
Rome.  An  imperial  diet  was  assembled  at  Spire.  The 
object  of  this  convention  was  twofold :  first,  to  take 
measures  by  which  Germany  might  be  protected  from 
the  Turks ;  and  secondly,  for  the  suppression  of  heresy. 
The  latter  engaged  the  most  attention.  The  edict  of 
Worms  was  reaffirmed  and  a  barrier  thrown  across  the 
track  of  the  Reformation.  The  action  of  a  general 
council,  it  had  been  hoped  by  the  Reformers,  would  se- 
cure greater  freedom  to  the  gospel,  but  the  diet  at  Spire 
anticipated  such  a  result  and  opposed  itself  to  all  reform, 
ignoring  what  had  been  done  at  a  preceding  diet  favor- 
able to  Christian  liberty. 

There  was  aroused  among  the  evangelicals  a  senti- 
ment of  opposition  to  these  restrictive  measures  which 
expressed  itself  in  a  memorable  protest  by  the  princes 
and  rulers  who  were  friendly  to  the  Reformation.  Then 
the  Reformers  were,  for  the  first  time,  called  Protestants, 
a  name  which  has  been  perpetuated  to  the  present. 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  205 

They  protested  against  the  withdrawal  of  the  religious 
liberty  granted  by  tlie  previous  diet,  which  was  to  have 
awaited  the  action  of  a  general  council.  They  protested 
against  this  later  action  as  aifecting  not  their  worldly 
interests  or  loyalty  to  the  empire,  but  the  interests  of 
their  souls,  both  in  this  world  and  in  that  which  is  to 
come.  They  protested  against  the  assumption  that  all 
power  resides  in  the  pope,  and  insisted  that  religious 
controversies  sliould  be  settled  by  a  general  council  of 
the  Church,  for  which  determination  of  vital  questions 
no  provision  had  been  made.  ^'  Before  all  men  and  liv- 
ing creatures  we  protest,''  they  said,  '^  that  we  will  not 
consent  to  the  aforesaid  resolution  of  this  imperial  diet." 
Thus  the  gauntlet  was  thrown  down,  and  many  appre- 
hended such  a  strife  as  Germany  had  not  before  known. 
But  Luther  counseled  peace.  He  would  have  the  people 
wait  in  quietness  and  hope  for  the  more  favorable  decis- 
ions of  another  day. 

The  emperor  had  ordered  a  diet  to  be  held  at  Augs- 
burg the  following  April.  In  anticipation  of  this  con- 
vocation, and  by  request  of  the  elector,  Luther  and  a 
number  of  his  friends  met  at  Torgau  and  agreed  upon 
the  course  to  be  pursued  at  Augsburg. 

Soon  after,  Luther,  still  resting  under  the  ecclesiastical 
ban,  and  hence  not  permitted  to  appear  in  the  diet,  w^ent 
to  the  castle  of  Coburg,  a  four  days' journey  from  Augs- 
burg, from  which  point  it  would  be  practicable  to  hold 
communication  with  the  elector.  This  is  a  second  Wart- 
burg.  Spacious  apartments  were  assigned  him  in  the 
castle.  The  windows  commanded  a  prospect  of  Thu- 
ringia  and  Franconia  and  the  long  line  of  hills  beyond, 
wtilst  in  the  foreground  was  a  little  grove   where,  as 


206  E0MANIS3I  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Luther  said,  ^^  the  daws  and  the  crows  held  an  imperial 
diet,"  their  hall  more  beautiful  than  that  of  any  royal 
palace,  arched  by  the  far-reaching  heavens,  the  floor  the 
meadows  inlaid  with  green  branches,  and  their  walls  the 
world's  limits.  In  his  castle  he  is  busied  with  his  books. 
He  writes  letters  to  the  elector.  He  thinks  much  of 
liome  also,  and  sends  messages  to  wife  and  children. 
Very  beautiful  and  tender  are  the  latter,  revealing  the 
depth  of  aifection  which  nestles  in  the  old  warrior's 
heart. 

Previous  to  the  Augsburg  diet,  Charles  V.  had  been 
crowned  by  the  pope  at  Bologna.  The  ceremony  was 
inspiring.  The  vicar  of  Christ  was  recognized  as  the 
king  of  nations,  claiming  for  himself  the  prerogatives 
of  God.  The  royal  Charles,  robed  in  the  imperial  man- 
tle s-parkling  with  diamonds  and  hemmed  with  gold, 
bent  the  knee  to  Clement.  As  the  pope  placed  the 
crown  on  the  head  of  Charles  he  said,  '^  Charles,  emperor 
invincible,  receive  this  crown  which  we  place  on  your 
head  as  a  sign  to  all  the  earth  of  the  authority  that  is 
upon  thee."  Thereupon  Charles,  kissing  the  pope's 
slipper,  said,  ^^  I  swear  to  be,  with  all  my  powers  and  re- 
sources, the  perpetual  defender  of  the  pontifical  dignity 
and  of  the  Church  of  Rome."  Then  all  the  bells  of 
the  city  rang.  The  people  on  the  streets  rent  the  air 
with  shouts.  The  bands  of  music  also  gave  voice  to  the 
common  joy.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  was  married  to 
the  kingdom  of  this  world  in  a  union  which  Rome  said 
must  not  be  dissolved. 

The  emperor  rose  from  his  knees  and  left  the  altar  of 
San  Petroneo,  carrying  with  him  tlie  papal  benediction, 
prepared  to  do  the  bidding  of  Rome  in  the  home  of  the 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  207 

Germans.  His  march  toward  Augsburg  was  attended 
with  great  pomp.  As  he  proceeded  northward  the  alarm 
of  the  Protestants  increased.  At  length  they  resolved 
to  oppose  his  advance.  ^'  Let  us  collect  our  troops, 
march  on  the  Tyrol  and  close  the  passage  of  the  Alps 
against  the  emperor.^^  Luther  discouraged  an  appeal  to 
arms.  "  God  is  faithful/^  he  said;  "  he  will  not  abandon 
us  ;''  and  the  Coburg  Castle  resounded  with  the  voice  of 
confiding  trust,  its  echoes  extending  over  the  German 
empire  :  ''  A  strong  tower  is  our  God." 

Charles's  entrance  to  Augsburg  was  calculated  to 
deepen  the  fears  of  the  timid  Protestants,  for  a  more 
magnificent  pageant  had  never  been  witnessed  in  that 
north-west.  A  company  of  landgraves  were  followed 
by  princes,  counts  and  counselors.  Then  came  Bava- 
rian horsemen,  marching  five  abreast  with  flashing  doub- 
lets and  gleaming  armor  and  on  their  heads  great  nod- 
ding plumes.  After  these  rode  nobles  from  Austria, 
Bohemia  and  Spain,  all  richly  attired,  followed  by  the 
princes  with  their  royal  retinue  and  the  elector  of  Saxony 
carrying  the  imperial  sword,  and,  last  of  all,  the  emperor 
himself  in  gorgeous  robes,  riding  a  richly-caparisoned 
horse,  over  him  a  canopy  of  brilliant  colors  supported 
by  six  senators  of  Augsbui'g.  An  inspiring  greeting 
extended  by  high  officials  at  the  gates  of  the  city  was 
succeeded  by  the  discharge  of  artillery  from  all  the 
heights  and  the  chiming  of  bells  in  all  the  church- 
towers. 

At  a  late  hour  the  emperor  entered  the  great  cathedral, 
the  columns  wreathed  in  garlands,  floral  arches  dropping 
their  fragrance,  a  flood  of  light  making  resplendent 
every  nook  and  alcove  of  the  temple,  the  organ  throb- 


208  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

biiig  with  harmoDies  befitting  the  occasion,  and  a  Te 
Deum  following,  whilst  the  emperor,  bowing  before 
the  high  altar,  turned  his  face  and  lifted  his  hands 
toward  an  invisible  throne  beyond  the  night  and  far 
above  the  miinster  towers. 

The  days  succeeding  were  filled  with  disputations,  the 
waves  of  contention  ebbing  and  flowing  as  the  sea. 
Meanwhile,  messengers  are  passing  between  Augsburg 
and  Castle  Coburg.  Luther  at  his  far  remove  is  the 
presiding  spirit  in  the  imperial  diet.  He  is  continually 
occupied  with  wrestling  prayer.  Three  morning  hours 
of  each  day  are  spent  alone  with  God.  At  times  he 
seems  to  forget  the  presence  of  man,  and  down  the  long 
corridors  of  the  castle  rolls  the  voice  of  prayer,  climb- 
ing thence  the  pathway  of  the  skies.  Listen  !  ''  I  know 
thou  art  our  Father  and  our  God,  and  that  thou  wilt 
scatter  the  persecutors  of  thy  children,  for  thou  art  thy- 
self endangered  with  us.  All  this  matter  is  true,  and  it 
is  only  by  thy  constraint  that  we  have  put  our  hands  to 
it.  Defend  us,  then,  O  Father.''  And  thus  he  pleads 
as  the  hours  go  on.  Prayer  triumphs.  God  comes 
down  to  earth,  and  vain  is  the  opposition  of  men  though 
they  wear  papal  tiaras  and  imperial  crowns. 

The  Augsburg  Confession,  in  substance  the  work 
of  Luther,  its  chastened  diction  and  tempered  spirit 
bearing  the  imprint  of  Melanchthon's  hand,  was  read  in 
the  Palatine  chapel.  It  set  forth  those  great  doctrines 
which  are  styled  evangelical  in  opposition  to  the  pagan 
philosophies  which  had  dominated  Pome — Christ  exalted 
as  supreme  and  only  Head  of  the  Church ;  salvation 
attained  through  his  sacrifice,  which  the  mass  profanely 
displaces  or  professes  to  repeat ;  the  necessity  of  personal 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  209 

holiness,  which  is  declared  to  be  the  will  of  God  and  a 
condition  of  final  salvation  ;  the  word  of  God  the  only 
rnle  of  faith  and  life ;  and  the  separation  of  Church  and 
State,  the  union  of  which,  a  fundamental  principle  of 
the  papacy,  had  brought  only  evil  along  all  the  years — a 
principle  opposed  by  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  and  by 
the  express  declaration  of  the  Son  of  God,  whose  king- 
dom is  not  of  this  world. 

Here  the  Protestants  plant  themselves ;  not  only  the 
representatives  of  old  monasteries  and  theological  schools, 
but  the  elector  of  Saxony,  Philip,  landgrave  of  Hesse, 
margraves,  princes,  dukes  and  royal  deputies,  declare 
themselves  in  sympathy  with  the  Confession  and  pledge 
eternal  fealty  to  Him  who  died  that  the  dead  might  live 
and  the  homeless  go  home  to  God.  Then  Coburg  Castle 
reflects  the  joy,  and  Luther,  with  beaming  face  turned 
heavenward,  exclaims,  ''  Christ  is  in  the  diet  and  he  does 
not  keep  silence ;  the  word  of  God  cannot  be  bound." 

The  Reformation  has  reached  the  table-lands.  The 
gospel  is  shining  over  Europe.  The  long-expected  day 
is  come,  and  generations  following  shall  share  the  fruits 
of  this  great  reform,  the  greatest  work  accomplished 
since  Paul  planted  the  cross  in  the  city  of  the  Caesars 
and  the  New  Jerusalem  opened  its  gates  above  the  ^gean 
isle.  From  this  time  Luther  pursues  his  studies  and 
sends  forth  his  books  without  molestation  or  fear.  He 
lives  happily  with  his  beloved  Catherine,  and  together 
they  anticipate  the  fellowship  of  the  world  beyond. 
AiSlictions  come  to  them :  children  that  had  nestled  in 
their  bosoms  and  cheered  them  with  their  innocent  prat- 
tle, and  made  the  old  arches  resound  with  their  laughter, 
sicken  and  die.     Luther  is   mellowed   by  sorrow,  and, 


210  ROMANISM  AXD   THE  BEFORMERS. 

like  the  royal  mourner,  sends  liis  fondest  thoughts  on  to 
the  home-coming  and  the  reunions  of  the  skies. 

Luther  is  approaching  the  goal  of  life.  "  I  am  old, 
weary  and  useless/^  he  writes  to  a  friend.  "  I  have  fin- 
ished my  journey,  and  naught  remains  but  for  the  Lord 
to  gather  me  to  my  fathers.  Pray  for  me.  I  think  no 
more,  dear  Spalatin,  about  the  emperor  and  the  empii-e, 
except  to  refer  one  and  the  other  to  God  in  my  prayers. 
Grown  old  and  worn  like  a  garment,  I  long  to  be  folded 
and  laid  aside." 

In  the  midwinter  he  left  Wittenberg  that  he  might 
revisit  his  early  home  and  do  some  work  for  Christ  along 
the  way.  Passing  safely  through  the  perils  of  a  flood  at 
Halle,  he  came  to  Eisleben.  Thence  he  sent  affectionate 
messages  to  his  dear  Catherine,  on  whose  face  he  was 
never  to  look  again,  commending  her  to  God's  most  lov- 
ing care.  He  spoke  of  his  approaching  death,  of  the 
recognition  of  friends  in  heaven  and  of  the  joy  of  being 
with  Christ.  At  the  close  of  a  day  spent  in  exhausting 
labors  he  retired  to  his  chamber ;  at  the  window  which 
looked  toward  Jerusalem  he  prayed.  The  shadow  of 
death  was  on  his  face.  His  two  sons  and  friends  dearly 
beloved  watched  tenderly  beside  his  bed.  For  a  little 
he  slept  peacefully  as  a  child,  his  weary  head  on  the 
bosom  of  Him  who  long  had  been  his  refuge  in  trouble. 
Near  midnight  he  awoke  and  looked  affectionately  into 
the  faces  of  his  anxious  friends,  bidding  them  cease  their 
vigils  and  seek  needful  rest.  Then  turning  his  eyes  to- 
ward heaven,  he  said,  '^  Into  thy  hands  I  commit  my 
spirit;  thou  hast  redeemed  me,  Lord  God  of  truth." 
Again  he  said,  '^I  commend  my  soul  to  thee,  my  Jesus. 
I  am  about  to  quit  this  terrestrial  body,  but  I  know  that 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS.  211 

I  shall  abide  eternally  with  thee."  Then  he  slept  for  a, 
little  and  awoke  in  heaven.  The  morning  had  not  yet 
come  to  the  dear  old  town,  but  he  was  looking  upon  the 
face  of  his  Beloved,  to  whose  cross  he  had  clung,  for 
whose  cause  he  had  suffered,  in  devotion  to  whom  he 
would  gladly  have  endured  a  martyr's  death. 

Luther  died  on  the  18th  of  February,  1546,  in  his 
sixty-fourth  year,  in  the  Mansfeld  Castle  at  Eisleben. 
His  life  ended  where  it  began.  On  the  20th  the  funeral 
procession  left  Eisleben,  and  reached  Wittenberg  on  the 
third  day  following,  being  met  by  a  sorrowing  multi- 
tude at  the  Elster  Gate.  At  the  castle-church  Bugen- 
hagen  preached  the  solemn  sermon  from  the  words  of 
St.  Paul :  "  But  I  would  not  have  you  to  be  ignorant, 
brethren,  concerning  them  which  are  asleep,  that  ye 
sorrow  not,  even  as  others  which  have  no  hope.  For 
if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so 
them  also  that  sleep  in  Jesus  shall  God  bring  with 
him."  Melanchthon,  who  had  been  Luther's  most  in- 
timate, unwavering  friend,  then  pronounced  an  affection- 
ate eulogy  upon  the  departed  man,  the  greatest  since 
apostolic  days.  Once  he  had  said  concerning  him 
"Luther  is  too  great,  too  wonderful,  for  me  to  depict 
in  words.  If  there  be  a  man  on  earth  I  love  with  my 
whole  heart,  that  man  is  Luther.  One  is  an  interpreter, 
another  an  orator,  affluent  and  beautiful  in  speech,  but 
Luther  is  all  in  all ;  whatever  he  writes,  whatever  he 
utters,  pierces  to  the  soul,  fixes  itself  like  arrows  in 
the  heart;  he  is  a  miracle  among  men."  Now  that 
he  is  gone,  Melanchthon  mourns,  and  Germany  with 
him. 

Loving  hands  laid  the  mortal  part  of  Luther  in  the 


212  ROMANISM  AND   THE  BE  FORMERS. 

earth  in  front  of  the  pulpit  in  tlie  castle-church  from 
which  he  had  often  spoken,  with  a  holy  boldness  and 
unction  unsurpassed,  the  wonderful  words  of  life. 

Nay,  that  Wittenberg  church  is  not  his  tomb,  but 
what  Pericles  said  of  another  may  be  more  truthfully 
said  of  Luther :  "  The  whole  earth  is  the  sepulchre  of 
the  illustrious  man." 

We  attempt  now  no  analysis  of  his  character.  Our 
story  of  him,  as  it  has  run  on,  has  suggested  the  ele- 
ments of  his  greatness.  He  had  faults.  He  was  not 
always  wise.  To  err  is  human.  He  lived  in  an  age 
of  the  world  which  encouraged  roughness  of  speech, 
and  he  must  not  be  judged  by  the  standard  of  that 
better  day  which  he  inaugurated.  But,  take  him  all 
in  all,  he  stands  supreme  among  the  maguates  of  eigh- 
teen centuries,  a  Mont  Blanc  among  Alpine  men,  at 
whom  dwellers  on  the  plains  and  in  the  valleys  gaze 
with  an  admiration  which  increases  with  advancing 
time.  We  think  of  him  as  did  Thomas  Carlyle,  as 
"  unsubduable  granite,  piercing  far  and  wide  into  the 
heavens,  yet  in  the  clefts  of  it  fountains  green,  beau- 
tiful valleys  with  flowers.'' 

Truly,  God  exalted  the  miner's  son  to  the  summit 
of  moral  power.  And  although  Frederick  was  good, 
Erasmus  learned  and  Melauchthon  gentle  as  the  beloved 
John,  yet  the  Augustinian  monk  in  moral  grandeur 
and  potential  deeds  outstripped  them  all,  and  no  man 
since  Paul  and  the  apostles  lived  has  reached  such  a 
stature  and  cast  so  long  a  shadow,  in  which  earth's 
scorched  and  weary  ones  hide,  as  Martin  Luther,  born 
at  Eisleben,  born  again  at  Erfurt,  baptized  afresh  on 
Pilate's    Staircase,    separated    from    Rome    in    the   con- 


LUTHER'S  LAST  DAYS  213 

test  at  Leipsic  and   crowned  one  of  workFy   mightiest 
at  the  diet  of  Worms. 

We  bless  God  for  this  extraordinary  man,  for  it  was 
God  who  gave  him  to  the  world  and  by  him  divided 
the  clouds  which  hung  over  Europe  and  darkened  it, 
that  the  glorious  Sun  of  righteousness  might  shine 
through,  and  men,  ignorant,  enslaved  and  lost,  might 
find  the  way  to  Christ  and  heaven. 


ZWINGLE:  THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERD, 

16 


"  I  determined  not  to  knozu  anything  among  you  save  Jesus 
Christ,  and  him  crucified.'" 

2  Cor.  ^  :  2. 

"  Chjdst  by  his  obedience  and  death,  did  fully  discharge  the 

debt  of  those  that  are  thus  justified,  and  did  make  a  proper, 

real,   and  full  satisfaction  to  his  Father's  justice  in    their 

behalf y 

Con.  Faith,  chap.  xi.  sec.  iii. 


Z WINGLE :  THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERD. 


TN  the  great  Reformation,  Martin  Luther  occupies  the 
J-  first  position.  A  galaxy  of  stars  shone  in  the  night- 
time of  papal  supremacy.  There  was  only  one  polar 
star.  Around  it  gathered  the  lesser  lights,  each  bearing 
its  part  in  the  illumination  of  the  long-darkened  world. 
Erasmus  was  timid  and  fickle;  Melanchthon  was  cau- 
tious and  moved  slowly;  Frederick  was  reluctant  to 
break  with  Rome ;  Carlstadt  was  aflame  with  zeal,  bat 
often  imprudent.  And  yet  all  these  rendered  valuable 
service,  and  the  absence  of  any  one  of  them  would 
have  delayed  the  needful  reform.  With  them  were 
associated  many  of  like  spirit,  of  whom  history  makes 
honorable  mention. 

Whilst  Martin  Luther  was  stirring  all  Germany  with 
his  theses,  his  vigorous  writings  and  his  J3ublic  addresses, 
and  Rome  feared  his  power,  God  was  raising  up  other 
men  in  the  contiguous  kingdoms  to  battle  for  the  truth. 
And  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  special  mention,  indicating 
the  superintending  providence  of  God,  that  there  was  no 
collusion  among  these  national  Reformers.  They  acted 
independently  and  yet  simultaneously.  Thus  history 
repeated  itself.  As  devout  men  in  Israel,  Magi  in  the 
East  and  sincere  inquirers  in  the  land  of  Confucius, 
without  interchange  of  thought,  separated  by  broad, 
uninhabited    spaces,  were    looking    for   the    Messiah's 

217 


218  BOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

adveDt,  so  Saxony,  Switzerland  and  France,  divided  by 
great  mountains,  across  which  travelers  seldom  went, 
were  watching  for  tlie  return  of  the  glorious  gospel  day, 
and  making  ready  for  it.  God's  thought  preceded 
man's.     His  action  antedated  luiman  eflPort. 

Let  us  now  leave  the  land  of  Luther  and  see  what  is 
transpiring  in  regions  lying  toward  the  west.  We  will 
pause  in  our  advance  among  the  valleys  of  Switzerland, 
beside  its  beautiful  lakes  and  on  its  mountain-slopes. 
Here  we  shall  find  the  kindlings  of  light  which  betoken 
a  better  day.  God  is  working  silently  and  unobserved. 
He  is  seeking  his  apostles  among  the  humble,  and  is 
about  to  inaugurate  a  work  which  shall  bring  new  beauty 
to  the  valleys  and  new  grandeur  to  the  mountains — not 
material,  but  spiritual,  born  of  a  heavenly  day. 

Ascending  by  a  steep  path  which  winds  upward 
through  deep  forests  and  across  barren  slopes,  we  reach 
a  rustic  village  called  the  Wildhaus,  two  thousand  feet 
above  the  sheltered  waters  of  the  Zurich  lake.  The 
river  Thun  runs  near  by.  The  cultivated  fields  yield  a 
scanty  fruitage  as  a  reward  of  patient  toil.  The  higher 
mountain-peaks,  clad  in  perpetual  snows,  silent  and 
solemn  sentinels,  keep  watch  over  the  simple  hamlets 
which  sit  at  their  i^fii,  A  few  minutes'  ^vftlk  from 
Wildhaus  brings  us  to  a  cottage  built  of  logs.  Seeming 
to  apologize  for  its  presence,  it  hugs  the  ground  and 
hides  among  the  trees.  Yet  there  are  few  spots  in 
Central  Europe  that  have  been  so  honored  as  that  rude 
cottage  on  this  Alpine  height,  for  here  was  born  Ulrich 
Zwingle,  the  Swiss  Reformer,  a  man  but  little  inferior 
in  the  attributes  of  human  greatness  and  in  potential 
deeds  to  his  contemporary,  the  son  of  the  Eisleben  miner. 


ZWINGLE:   THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERD.       219 

His  birth  occurred  Jan.  1,  148'4,  less  than  two  months 
after  Luther's,  and  God  designed  a  simultaneous  move- 
ment in  the  interests  of  the  truth  on  both  sides  of  tlie 
Alps.  Ulrich's  father  was  the  bailiff  of  the  village 
parish,  and  much  respected  by  his  fellow-mountaineers. 
lie  was  alike  devoted  to  the  Swiss  Confederation  and 
the  Romish  Church.  At  the  fireside  he  talked  much 
with  his  children  of  the  struggles  by  which  the  Zoggen- 
burg  had  secured  its  independence,  and  descanted  in 
glowing  terms  on  the  natural  grandeur  and  civil  advan- 
tages of  the  Swiss  cantons,  the  Hebrew  confederation  of 
Central  Europe.  His  conversation  also,  though  less 
frequently  than  that  of  the  mother,  embraced  higher 
themes,  and  the  thoughts  of  young  Ulrich  dwelt  on  the 
stories  of  Bethlehem  and  Calvary,  and  ascended  thence 
to  the  heaven  which  received  the  departed  Lord.  When 
yet  a  mere  child  he  was  placed  in  a  school  at  Wesen,  for 
his  father  believed  he  was  designed  for  some  more  im- 
portant service  than  that  of  a  mountain-shepherd.  The 
boy  was  fond  of  books  and  made  rapid  progress  in  his 
studies.  When  ten  years  of  age  he  was  transferred  to 
Basle,  a  famous  city,  where  there  was  much  to  impress 
and  stimulate  the  mind  of  the  precocious  Ulrich.  It 
was  a  seat  of  learning.  Here  the  great  scholars  congre- 
gated. The  sage  of  Rotterdam  shed  an  intellectual  halo 
over  the  university  town,  for,  with  all  his  frailties,  Eras- 
mus was  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  his  age.  George 
Binzli  presided  over  St.  Theodore's  School,  and  there 
was  none  better  fitted,  at  this  stage  in  his  education,  to 
have  the  care  of  Ulrich.  Put  the  boy  soon  completed 
the  course  of  studies  prescribed  in  his  primary  school, 
and  it  was  deemed  best  to  remove  him  to  Berne,  where 


220  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

he  was  placed  under  the  instruction  of  Lupukis,  one  of 
the  eminent  scholars  of  that  day,  who  left  the  imprets 
of  his  own  unique  character  upon  the  ardent  pupil.  But 
unexpected  perils  surrounded  the  latter.  He  was  urged 
to  enter  tlie  Dominican  convent  and  devote  himself  to  a 
monastic  life.  Then  came  a  peremptory  message  from 
Wildhaus  to  flee  from  the  wiles  which  endangered  his 
future.  It  was  a  trial  to  leave  Lupulus  and  depart  from 
Berne — beautiful  Berne,  skirted  by  the  Aar  and  over- 
shadowed by  the  Alps.  But  his  father's  authority  was 
regarded,  and  Ulrich  became  a  student  of  philosophy 
in  Vienna ;  and  then,  after  a  brief  period,  during  which 
he  made  great  advancement  in  his  studies,  he  again  re- 
turned to  Basle,  where  lie  was  occupied  at  first  with 
literary  pursuits,  and  subsequently  Avith  scholastic  the- 
ology. Thus  he  came  in  contact,  by  these  seemingly 
adverse  changes,  with  the  great  minds  of  his  age  and 
with  the  diflPerent  phases  of  religious  thought.  God  was 
leading  him  on,  step  by  step,  to  that  eminence  in  knowl- 
edge and  influence  which  has  linked  his  name  with  those 
of  Luther,  Calvin  and  Beza,  all  of  whom  shall  live  in 
history  until  the  world  shall  end. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Wildhaus,  the  mountain-village  of 
Zwingle's  birth,  was  the  hamlet  of  Glaris.  The  little 
flock  on  that  far  height  was  shepherdless.  The  people 
expressed  a  wish  that  Zwingle  might  be  their  priest. 
He  was  accordingly  received  to  holy  orders.  The  cere- 
mony of  induction  occurred  in  the  old  mlinster  at  Con- 
stance, the  same  in  which  John  Huss  was  condemned  to 
the  stake.  He  spent  a  brief  season  in  his  native  village, 
performing  certain  duties  of  his  office,  and  then,  although 
he  had  just  passed   his  majority,  he  went  thoughtfully 


ZWINGLE:   THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEFHEBL.       221 

on  to  Glaris,  leaving  his  simple  home  and  the  village 
church  with  a  presentiment  that  he  might  never  return 
to  them.  He  was  stepping  out  on  a  broad  arena  and 
about  to  enter  upon  a  work  that  was  destined  to  mould 
the  ages  following.  In  his  first  parish  he  labored  with 
commendable  zeal.  He  was  a  devout  papist.  As  yet 
he  did  not  question  the  authority  of  the  pope  or  the 
Christless  philosophies  of  the  times. 

His  ministrations  were  soon  interrupted.  He  was 
living  in  a  martial  age  and  caught  its  spirit.  He  joined 
his  countrymen  in  a  war  wdth  France,  in  which  a  humil- 
iating repulse  was  succeeded  by  signal  victory.  Julius 
IL,  the  reigning  pope,  gave  the  conquering  Swiss  his 
benediction  and  styled  them  ''defenders  of  the  liberty 
of  the  Church.'^  The  Alps  re-echoed  with  the  shouts 
of  the  conquerors,  and  Rome  was  confident  of  continued 
supremacy  in  the  mountain-girded  cantons. 

But  already  young  Zwingle,  devoting  himself  with 
characteristic  zeal  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
communing  through  their  writings  with  the  early 
Fathers,  began  to  exalt  the  word  of  God  above  the 
traditions  of  the  Church  and  to  discover  some  fragments 
of  evangelical  truth,  long  buried  by  papal  decretals  and 
sensuous  rites.  The  corruption  of  monastic  orders,  the 
general  dissoluteness  of  the  people,  the  prevailing  ignor- 
ance of  nominal  Christians  and  the  almost  utter  want 
of  reverence  for  God  and  sacred  things  startled  the 
thoughtful  priest.  '^  Surely,"  he  thought,  "  the  Church 
is  on  the  verge  of  great  disaster."  He  was  perplexed. 
He  studied  more  profoundly — now  the  old  philosophies 
which  dominated  Rome,  now  the  words  of  God  which 
evidently    opposed    them.      It    was   simply    a   question 


222  EOMAiMSiV  ASD   THE  REFORMERS. 

whether  Aristotle  or  Christ  should  have  the  supremacy. 
His  classic  tastes  checked  his  search  for  the  truth.  Pie 
read  Homer  and  Pindar  with  great  delight.  He  often 
went,  in  admiring  thought,  to  the  Bema  and  Pnyx,  and 
listened  to  the  unexampled  oratory  which  stirred  Athens 
and  all  Attica,  or  ling-ered  long:  on  the  wooded  banks  of 
Cephissus  where  Plato  taught,  and  then,  passing  west- 
ward, yielded  his  soul  to  the  classic  eloquence  of  Rome 
in  the  ages  of  the  Caesars. 

But  soon  a  reaction  came.  God  is  infinitely  greater 
than  all  the  sages  of  Greece  and  Rome.  There  is  a 
diviner  poetry  in  the  Psalms  of  David  than  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Odyssey  or  Iliad.  The  preacher  of  Mars' 
Hill  is  incomparably  more  eloquent  than  Pericles,  and 
is  a  profounder  philosopher  than  Plato  or  Aristotle, 
Zwingle's  mind  is  settled.  The  word  of  God  must  be  his 
rule  of  faith.  If  Rome  will  be  pagan,  then  Rome  and 
he  must  part  company.  "  Supreme  vanity  !''  some  were 
ready  to  say,  "  this  priest  of  mountain-rustics  setting 
himself  against  popes  and  cardinals  at  whose  feet  em- 
perors have  bowed  !'' 

Zwingle  thirsts  for  companionship  with  the  great 
thinkers  of  his  age.  The  fame  of  some  of  them,  grow- 
ing with  the  years,  has  reached  his  mountain-home.  He 
resolves  to  visit  Basle,  and  sets  out  alone.  Deep  thoughts 
stir  his  soul,  and  high  resolves  are  being  formulated  as 
he  descends  the  mountain-paths  and  threads  the  valleys. 
The  great  Erasmus  welcomes  the  priest  of  Claris,  pro- 
nounces him  an  exceptional  genius  and  predicts  for  him 
a  wide  renown.  Very  memorable  was  that  visit  to 
Basle.  Zwingle  had  seen  Erasmus  and  talked  with  him. 
The  scholarship  of  the  sage  of  Rotterdam  was  a  marvel 


ZWJNGLE:  THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEFHEBD.      223 

to  the  scholastic  priest.  His  reverence  for  the  word  of 
God  confirmed  Zwiugle's  faith.  The  latter  had  received 
an  impulse  along  the  line  of  scriptural  truth  which  was 
destined  to  carry  him  on  to  more  fruitful  fields  and  to 
grander  results  than  tlie  faint-hearted  and  temporizing 
Erasmus  ever  reached. 

Again  he  left  Glaris.  The  red  banners  of  Rome  were 
moving  northward,  and  the  Swiss,  loyal  to  the  Church, 
went  to  the  aid  of  Italy  against  the  seditious  armies  of 
France.  Zwingle  remonstrated  in  vain,  then  girded  on 
his  sword.  On  the  gory  field  of  Marignan  brave  bat- 
talions of  his  countrymen  perished,  and  Zwiugle's  soul 
was  wrung  with  anguish.  A  great  wrong  had  been 
committed  by  Rome,  and  Rome  suffered  for  it.  But  out 
of  all  this  a  great  good  was  to  come.  Although  Zwin- 
gle did  not  question  the  righteousness  of  an  appeal  to 
arms  when  the  Church  was  threatened,  yet  he  was  losing 
his  faith  in  the  Church.  The  pope  is  corrupt  and  his 
influence  is  corrupting.  Cardinals  reflect  his  image. 
The  priesthood  is  ignorant  and  sensual.  The  monas- 
teries are  the  sinks  of  sin.  The  word  of  God  is  bound. 
The  hierarchy  holds  the  public  conscience  and  debases 
the  people.  Great  is  the  moral  darkness,  and  beyond 
it,  unless  God  interpose,  a  starless,  endless  night. 

Zwingle  returned  to  his  secluded  parish.  The  people 
knew  a  great  change  had  come  over  him.  He  preached 
with  an  increase  of  power.  He  knew  nothing  but  the 
word  of  God.  The  Gospels  and  Epistles  kindled  a 
strange,  glad  light  amid  the  mountain-solitudes — a  light 
which  was  destined  to  shine  to  the  utmost  limits  of  the 
Switzers^  land. 

The  preacher  is  not  so  much  occupied  with  error  as 


224  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

with  truth.  He  combats  darkuess  with  light.  He  does 
not  denounce  Rome,  but  he  exalts  the  doctrines  of  the 
apostolic  Church,  and  points  to  the  heights  of  purity 
which  are  attainable  and  should  be  sought  by  all.  His 
work  at  Glaris  is  at  an  end. 

On  the  high  table-land  which  overlooks  the  lake  at 
Zurich,  three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  is 
Einsidlen,  a  simple  village  which  clusters  its  homes 
around  a  venerable  abbey.  If  you  will  credit  the 
superstitious  monks,  this  ab])ey  has  a  history  which  is 
second  in  interest  only  to  that  of  the  Bethlehem  man- 
ger. On  the  spot  where  it  stands,  in  the  days  of  Char- 
lemagne, a  holy  anchorite,  bowing  before  an  image 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  was  murdered  by  two  marauders, 
whose  crime  was  miraculously  revealed  and  punished. 
Here  the  Benedictine  hermits  built  a  church,  and  to 
them  was  given  the  sanctity  which  distinguished  the 
martyred  representative  of  the  house  of  Hohenzollern. 
Here  the  abbot  Eberard  ministered,  and  the  place  was 
consecrated  by  the  presence  of  Christ  and  angels  ere  the 
bishop  of  Constance,  intending  to  dedicate  the  church  in 
accordance  with  sacred  usage,  had  come.  His  offices 
were  unneeded.  The  pope  declared  the  consecration  a 
miracle.  On  one  of  tlie  stones  Christ  had  left  the  im- 
pression of  his  right  hand.  Plenary  indulgence  was 
granted  to  all  pilgrims  who  worshiped  at  the  shrine 
of  Our  Lady  of  the  Hermits.  Each  year  thereafter 
a  holy  festival  was  kept  in  the  Benedictine  abbey,  and 
in  anticipation  of  it  devout  pilgrims  thronged  the 
mountain-paths  which  led  thither.  To  this  shrine 
Ulrich  Zwingle  was  summoned,  and  he  became  the 
priest  of   Einsidlen.      Glaris   was  bereft,   but   God   so 


ZW INGLE:   THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERD.       225 

a])pointed.  In  this  secluded  spot  Zwingle  was  to  com- 
pJete  his  preparation  for  his  great  work.  Here  he  grew 
in  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  by  the  truth  was 
lifted  to  a  higher  spiritual  life.  His  ready  and  retentive 
memory  was  stored  with  whole  books  of  the  sacred  word, 
and  his  soul  was  enlarged.  Soon  he  abated  his  regard 
for  the  shrine  which  attracted  pilgrims  from  afar.  God 
was  not  confined  to  Einsidlen.  His  altar  stands  not 
alone  on  this  mountain  at  Gerizim  or  at  Jerusalem. 
Nor  is  he  pleased  Avith  the  austerities  of  an  ascetic  life, 
with  garments  of  rough  serge  girt  round  with  ropes,  and 
wooden  sandals  that  torture  the  feet,  and  Pater  Nosters 
and  Ave  Marias  repeated  in  old  abbeys  removed  from 
the  noise  and  turmoil  of  the  busy  world.  God  fills  all 
space.  He  is  accessible  on  the  plains,  in  the  city  and 
out  on  the  broad  fields  of  toil  as  well  as  in  monasteries 
and  cells,  and  what  he  claims  is  the  heart's  devotion, 
caring  little  whether  it  be  clothed  in  monkish  garb 
or  an  unconventual  dress.  Moreover,  said  Zwingle, 
"  Christ  is  our  sacrifice ;  we  need  no  other."  "  By 
one  offering  he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are 
sanctified."  Learned  men  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  evan- 
gelical preacher.  The  expression  of  a  familiar  creed, 
"  I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins,"  the  same  which 
carried  a  heavenly  light  into  the  cell  of  the  Erfurt 
monk,  was  invested  with  a  new  and  strange  interest 
as  Zwingle  repeated  it  beside  a  vacant  cross,  gazing 
into  heaven.  The  Sun  of  righteousness  is  in  the 
ascendant.  The  light  of  a  better  day  is  shining  over 
the  Switzers'  land. 

But  error  contends  with  the  truth.     Rome  resists  tlie 
gospel.    Another  Tetzel  appears,  and  the  traffic  in  indul- 


226  HOiMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

gences  is  repeated.  Along  the  mouutain-roads,  when  the 
summer  of  1518  was  well  advanced,  a  Franciscan  monk 
w^as  seen  approaching  Uri,  and  as  his  attendants  an- 
nounced that  the  pardon  of  sins  past  and  prospective 
might  be  purchased  with  money,  the  amount  so  gradu- 
ated as  to  meet  their  ability,  there  was  at  once  inaugu- 
rated a  successful  trade,  and  the  mercenary  monk  de- 
parted laden  with  his  ill-gotten  gains.  But  passing 
into  the  contiguous  canton,  he  encountered  Zwiugle, 
and  a  conflict  ensued.  "  Heaven  and  hell  are  subject 
to  my  power,''  said  Samson,  the  blaspheming  Francis- 
can. Was  he  not  the  representative  of  Rome,  and  had 
not  the  pope  delegated  to  him  the  power  which  releases 
from  purgatorial  fires  and  opens  the  gates  of  Paradise? 
^'Impossible,"  said  Zwiugle.  "Only  Christ  forgives. 
He  invites  the  sin-burdened  to  himself.  He  is  the 
only  Oblation,  the  only  Sacrifice,  the  only  Way." 
Public  sentiment  was  divided.  Some  believed  a  lie, 
and  starved  their  souls  whilst  they  enriched  the  papal 
treasury.  Some  carried  their  burdens  to  Jesus  the 
Christ  and  found  peace.  Zwiugle  is  gaining  the  con- 
fidence of  a  long-enslaved  people.  The  power  of  Rome 
is  waning.  The  presumptuous  monk  seeks  other  fields 
and  repeats  his  plunders  where  there  is  none  to  oppose. 
About  this  time  the  canons  of  the  cathedral  at  Zurich 
were  seeking  for  a  priest  to  supply  a  vacancy  caused  by 
the  departure  of  a  former  incumbent.  At  once  some 
influential  friends  determined  to  secure  this  position  for 
Zwiugle,  deeming  him  eminently  fitted  for  so  responsible 
a  trust.  But  they  encountered  a  most  intense  and  un- 
scrupulous opposition.  Zwingle's  character  was  defamed. 
His  enemies  produced  witnesses  who  were  ready  to  sub- 


ZWINGLE:   THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERD.       227 

stantiate  the  most  groundless  charges,  puerile  or  grave, 
as  might  best  subserve  their  end.  They  secured  a  large 
following,  but  the  more  intelligent  paid  little  attention 
to  the  falsehoods  of  these  extreme  papists.  The  college 
of  canons  met,  and  Zwingle  was  chosen  by  an  almost 
unanimous  vote.  The  news  carried  consternation  to 
Einsidlen.  The  people  loved  their  priest.  All  Switz- 
erland could  not  furnish  his  equal.  Many  resisted  his 
transfer  to  Zurich  ;  some  favored  it  for  the  truth's  sake. 
What  might  not  this  bold  and  gifted  man  accomplish  as 
the  cathedral  preacher  in  one  of  the  chief  cities  of  their 
Fatherland  ?  Zwingle  believed  it  was  a  call  from  God. 
There  was  much  to  attract  him  to  Zurich.  It  was  a 
centre  of  population,  learning  and  influence,  from  which 
the  truth  might  pass  along  many  radiating  lines  to  the 
utmost  limits  of  Switzerland  and  cross  mountain-ranges 
into  the  great  empires  beyond.     Thither  he  went. 

Zurich  is  a  beautiful  city.  It  was  beautiful  in  Zwin- 
gle's  day :  before  it  and  stretching  southward  the  lake 
which  bears  the  same  name,  around  it  the  great  hills 
covered  with  vineyards  and  orchards,  whilst  snow-capped 
mountains  cast  grateful  sliadows  over  it  on  the  summer 
days  and  sheltered  it  from  wintry  blasts.  The  cathedral 
still  remains,  though  built  eight  centuries  ago.  Its  cir- 
cular portals,  with  quaint  cloisters,  and  long  nave  sup- 
ported by  pillars  and  solemn  arches,  the  high  walls  over- 
looking the  chimney-steeples  of  the  busy  town,  its  double 
towers  catching  the  first  beams  of  the  morning  and  re- 
taining the  crimson  sunset  when  the  lake  is  dark  with 
shadows, — render  the  cathedral  in  which  the  Helvetian 
Reformer  preached  the  glorious  gospel  of  a  once-crucified 
but  now  risen  and  exalted  Lord  one  of  the  most  interest- 


228  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

ing  tomples  of  the  Old  World.  Its  architectural  attrac- 
tions are  few,  and,  although  an  imposing  edifice  in  Zurich, 
it  might  be  hidden  in  some  unnoticed  recess  of  St.  Peter's 
church  at  Rome,  yet  there  is  a  glory  crowning  it  such  as 
the  great  basilica  by  the  Tiber  never  knew — a  glory  born 
in  heaven  and  luring  multitudes  to  its  native  skies. 

Having  entered  upon  his  duties  as  cathedral  preacher, 
Zwino;le  introduced  certain  chano;es  which  were  distaste- 
ful  to  some  of  the  canons.  From  the  days  of  Charle- 
magne only  fragmentary  portions  of  the  Scriptures  were 
used  in  connection  with  the  public  service,  and  the  com- 
ments of  the  priests  upon  these  were  greatly  lacking  in 
fullness,  spirituality  and  force.  Zwingle  could  not  be 
superficial.  His  soul  craved  the  roots  of  things,  and  to 
these  he  sought  to  lead  his  hearers.  He  had  distinctly 
outlined  in  the  hearing  of  the  college  canons  his  purpose 
in  this  respect:  ^' The  life  of  Christ  lias  too  long  been 
hidden  from  the  people ;  I  shall  preach  upon  the  whole 
of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  chapter  by  chapter,  according 
to  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  without  human 
commentaries,  drawing  solely  from  the  fountain  of  Script- 
ure, sounding  its  depths,  comparing  one  passage  with 
another  and  seekino-  for  understandino;  bv  constant  and 
earnest  prayer.  It  is  to  God\s  glory,  to  the  praise  of  his 
only  Son,  to  the  real  salvation  of  souls  and  to  their  edi- 
fication in  the  true  faith,  that  I  shall  consecrate  my  min- 
istry." Then  there  followed  an  ominous  silence.  The 
new  priest  seemed  to  stand  alone.  Presently  strong  ex- 
pressions of  disapproval,  in  which  nearly  all  the  canons 
sympathized,  made  it  apparent  that  Zwingle  must  en- 
counter much  opposition  on  the  very  threshold  of  his 
work.     But  God  inspired  him  with  a  holy  boldness  and 


ZWINQLE:   THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERlJ.       229 

an  unwavering  trust.  He  must  preach  Christ  in  Zurich 
as  he  had  preached  him  at  Glaris  and  Einsidlen,  or  the 
lights  kindled  on  the  mountain-slopes  will  disappear  and 
a  profounder  night  come  on.  God  is  in  Switzerland  as 
he  is  in  Germany,  and  when  the  time  to  work  has  ar- 
rived, Avho  can  hinder? 

Now  let  us  enter  the  old  cathedral.  It  is  the  first  day 
of  January,  1519,  the  birthday  of  the  newly-arrived 
priest.  The  cathedral  is  crowded  from  the  high  altar  to 
the  outer  doors.  The  people  are  curious  to  see  the  new 
preacher  and  hear  him.  They  have  learned  something 
of  the  splendor  of  his  gifts  and  the  eloquence  of  his  ad- 
dress. They  wait  in  breathless  suspense  for  his  appear- 
ance. The  hour  for  worship  arrives,  and  Zwingle  is  in 
his  place.  His  personal  appearance  is  prepossessing. 
There  is  not  so  handsome  a  man  in  all  the  canton  of 
Zurich.  He  is  only  thirty-five  years  of  age — too  young, 
think  some,  to  preside  over  this  great  church  and  repre- 
sent the  venerable  chapter  which  has  called  him  from  his 
mountain-parish.  But  soon  their  fears  are  dissipated. 
His  strength  has  outrun  his  years.  His  clear,  sympa- 
thetic voice  reaches  all  ears  and  moves  every  heart. 
Some  approve  his  words,  some  disapprove  them  ;  but 
all  recognize  his  power.  He  repeated,  substantially,  in 
the  pulpit  what  he  had  said  to  the  cathedral  canons. 
Like  Paul  at  Corinth  and  Luther  at  Wittenberg,  he  de- 
termined to  know  nothing  among  them  save  Jesus  Christ, 
and  him  crucified.  He  had  been  at  the  cross  ;  he  had 
also  visited  the  sepulchre  and  found  it  vacant.  He  had 
gazed  into  heaven  as  did  the  disciples  on  Olivet,  and  had 
seen  something  of  Christ's  glory.  Now  he  goes  forth  in 
the  strength  of  recovered  truth  to  preach  Jesus   only. 


230  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

The  next  day  is  the  Sabbath.  The  Annunciation  is  his 
theme.  He  carries  his  hearers  to  Nazareth.  They  hear 
an  angelic  voice,  look  on  a  humble  virgin,  behold  the 
dawning  of  a  glorious  day.  The  service  is  full  of  Jesus, 
who  saves  his  people  from  their  sins. 

Beyond  the  mighty  priesthood,  beyond  the  solemn 
mass,  beyond  the  confessional  and  its  professed  absolu- 
tion, is  the  Son  of  Mary,  the  only  Saviour,  mighty  to 
redeem.  Many  of  the  people  behold  that  great  sight 
for  the  first  time.  They  see  but  dimly,  yet  joyfully, 
through  their  tears.  Zurich  never  saw  a  day  like  this. 
The  great  cathedral  pile  never  re-echoed  with  so  glad  a 
sound.  Is  it  real  or  only  a  dream  ?  The  popular  heart 
is  with  the  preacher.  But  the  college  of  priests  shake 
their  heads,  mutter  something  and  go  sullenly  out.  Had 
you  walked  down  the  streets  of  Zurich  that  day  as  the 
people  returned  to  their  homes,  you  might  have  heard 
such  exclamations  as  these  :  '^  Never  has  priest  preached 
like  that  priest ;"  ^^  The  night  is  past ;"  "  We  have  seen 
a  glorious  light  to-day  f  "  Thank  God  for  Ulrich  Zwin- 
gle  !'^  And  nature  is  in  harmony  with  the  common  joy. 
The  meridian  sun  bathes  the  hills  and  waters  in  a  soft, 
sweet  radiance.  The  tops  of  the  Albis  Mountains  seem 
to  point  the  Zurichers  to  heaven,  and  even  to  speak  of 
its  glorious  King. 

Anotlier  and  a  glad  surprise  awaited  the  people.  The 
eloquent  preacher  was  also  a  sympathetic  pastor.  He 
had  his  hours  of  study,  and  guarded  them  from  all  un- 
necessary intrusion.  Even  he  could  not  teach  unless  he 
was  much  alone  with  God  and  his  word.  But  he  de- 
voted other  hours  just  as  assiduously  to  pastoral  duties. 
He  mingled  much   with  the  people.     In  the  marts  of 


Z WIGGLE:    THE  MOUNTAIN-SHEPHERD.       231 

trade  he  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the  Scriptures,  and, 
like  Paul  in  Ephesus,  he  preached  from  house  to  house. 
The  humble  recognized  in  him  their  friend ;  the  noble 
esteemed  him  their  sympathetic  peer.  Truly,  Zurich 
was  glad  because  of  him,  and  the  moral  desert  blossomed 
as  the  rose. 

'The  influence  of  Zwingle  was  not  confined  by  the 
walls  nor  by  the  boundary-lines  of  the  Zurich  canton. 
Though  very  unlike  Luther,  his  contemporary  beyond 
the  Alps,  and  not  so  mighty  a  factor  in  the  Reformation, 
yet  he  was  to  Helvetia  what  Martin  Luther  was  to 
Saxony,  and  quite  as  well  adapted  to  the  sphere  God  had 
assigned  him.  He  was  not  an  Elijah  in  rough  mantle 
thundering  his  messages  at  city-gates  and  in  the  palaces 
of  kings.  He  was  a  loving  John  rather,  walking  softly; 
resolute,  yet  gentle,  seeking  to  lead  men  to  Christ  by  a 
sweet  persuasion  rather  than  to  bear  them  thither  in  a 
hurricane  of  vehemence  or  on  the  bosom  of  a  polemic 
storm.  And  yet  when  occasion  demanded  it  he  had  the 
mien  and  the  voice  of  a  lion,  and,  misguided  by  his  age, 
he  even  unwisely  resorted  to  carnal  weapons  in  the  sup- 
port of  a  spiritual  kingdom.  But  his  mistakes  were  few. 
When  opposed  in  Zurich  he  acted  wisely,  and  waited 
patiently  for  a  good  which  could  not  be  attained  at  once. 
There  were  things  about  him  which  he  appeared  not  to 
see  and  words  of  fierce  denunciation  which  he  seemed 
not  to  hear.  Some  radical  Reformers  in  Helvetia,  like 
the  impetuous  Carlstadt  in  Saxony,  had  made  him  the 
butt  of  their  sarcasm,  and  claimed  that  so  feeble  was  he 
that  his  voice  had  never  reached  beyond  his  own  cathe- 
dral walls.  But  even  then,  though  only  a  mere  youth, 
all   Switzerland    heard    him,  and    the  jealousy,  hatred, 


232  EOMANJSM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

defamation    and  organized   opposition    of  enemies  only 
proved  his  influence  and  power. 

God  is  in  Switzerland.  His  hand  is  marking  out  the 
pathways  of  his  truth.  The  cloud  which  error  has  hung 
over  cantons  and  kingdoms  is  yielding  before  the  rising 
sun.  The  Church  shall  go  forth  under  the  gleam  of  a 
rediscovered  heaven,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun 
and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners.  Lands  yet  un- 
known shall  receive  the  truth  ;  generations  yet  unknown 
shall  rejoice  in  it,  and  down  all  the  ages  the  glorious 
gospel  shall  press  its  way  until  the  Lord  shall  come 
again. 


ULRIGI^  ZWINGLE;  LATER  MINISTRY, 


*' As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do 
show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  coined 

I  Cor.  II  :  26. 

"  In  this  sacrament  Christ  is  not  offered  up  to  his  Father, 
nor  any  real  sacrifice  made  at  all  for  remission  of  sins  of  the 
quick  or  dead,  but  only  a  commemoration  of  that  once  offering 
up  of  himself,  by  hitnself  upoji  the  cross,  once  for  all,  and  a 
spiritual  oblation  of  all  possible  praise  zmto  God  for  the  same  ; 
so  that  the  popish  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  as  they  call  it,  is  most 
abominably  injurious  to  Christ's  one  only  sacrifice,  the  alone 
propitiation  for  all  the  sins  of  the  electa 

Confession  of  Faith,  chap,  xxix.  sec.  ii. 


ILRICH  ZWINGLE:  LATER  MINISTRY. 


TT7E  resume  our  narrative  of  the  Reformation  in 
*  *  Northern  Switzerland.  Zwingle  did  for  this  laud 
of  mountain  and  plain  what  Luther  did  for  Saxony  beyond 
the  Rhine.  As  the  months  advanced  lines  were  more 
clearly  drawn  ;  resistance  to  the  truth  became  more  de- 
termined on  the  one  side^  and  devotion  to  it  more  ardent 
on  the  other.  The  Reformer's  life  was  threatened,  but 
he  went  calmly  on  in  his  work.  Jesus  came  not  to  send 
peace  on  the  earth,  but  a  sword.  His  servant  was  pre- 
})ared  to  suffer  and,  if  necessary,  to  die.  He  slept  peace- 
fully whilst  armed  men  guarded  his  home  by  night,  and 
wrought  courageously  when  foes  thirsting  for  his  blood 
scowled  on  him  by  day.  When  the  forests  were  searched 
for  fugitive  friends,  torches  blazing  amid  the  darkness 
and  the  minions  of  Rome  shouting  their  war-cry  on  the 
mountain-heights,  he  abode  in  Zurich,  believing  himself 
immortal  until  his  work  was  done. 

Again  the  infamous  traffic  in  indulgences  projects  its 
shadow  across  his  path.  He  resisted  falsehood  with  the 
truth.  He  preached  Christ  as  the  Sin-bearer,  the  great 
Forgiver,  through  whom  alone  souls  are  accepted  with 
God  and  eternally  saved.  Then  the  council  of  Zurich 
was  convened,  and  Samson  the  monk  was  forbidden  to 
enter  the  city.  By  a  cunning  falsehood  the  latter  secured 
admittance,  but  was  quickly  ejected.    This  result  declared 

2?,b 


'2.36  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Zwingle's  strength  and  the  already  declining  power  of 
Rome.  Samson  departed  in  a  rage,  pronouncing  anathe- 
mas on  the  town.  Soon  after  he  was  seen  climbino^  the 
steep  mountain-road  on  the  south,  his  face  toward  Italy, 
thret.  horses  drawing  after  them  the  gold  and  silver 
ducats  which  Rome  loved  more  than  it  loved  the  souls 
of  its  superstitious  subjects. 

Still  other  trials  and  triumphs  awaited  the  Reformer. 
Physical  sufferings  brought  him  down,  and  his  work 
seemed  about  to  end.  This  was  a  darker  period  in  his 
life  than  he  had  known  before.  But  it  was  appointed 
for  his  good.  There  are  lessons  that  can  be  learned  only 
in  such  a  school.  There  are  a  mellowness  of  character, 
a  deptli  of  sympathy  and  a  holy  unction  which  are  born 
only  in  sick  chambers  and  on  the  confines  of  death. 
The  Zurich  pastor  must  go  into  the  wilderness.  Many 
hearts  ache  and  many  eyes  are  wet  with  tears  as  the  lov- 
ing shepherd  leaves  his  flock.  Away  in  a  darkened  val- 
ley, where  lamps  were  burned  at  noonday  and  the  roar 
of  mountain-torrents  was  never  hushed,  at  the  baths  of 
Pfeffers,  he  waited  patiently  for  the  troubling  of  the 
waters  and  a  healing  power  that  comes  from  heaven. 
The  interpretation  of  this  providence  came  sooner  than 
he  expected.  When  strength  was  returning  and  hope  be- 
gan to  brighten  his  gloomy  dwelling,  there  came  tidings 
of  evil  from  his  dear  Zurich.  The  plague  had  made  its 
appearance  in  the  city,  and  the  people  were  going  in 
battalions  to  their  graves.  He  hastened  thither.  He 
ministered  to  the  dying  and  buried  the  dead.  His  voice 
was  like  a  strain  of  music  in  darkened  homes.  But  the 
plague  smote  the  pastor  also.  Again  Zurich  was  over- 
whelmed with  fear.     Zwingle  alone  was  calm.     A  poet, 


ULRICH  ZW INGLE:   LATER  MINISTRY.        237 

he  expressed  io  simple  flowing  numbers  his  trust  in 
Jesus.  Listening  to  death's  knock  at  his  unguarded 
door,  he  hid  himself  in  the  cleft  of  the  Rock,  and  waited 
for  the  appearing  of  One  who  is  mightier  than  death. 
He  thinks  of  those  to  whom  he  had  ministered  in  the 
mountain-valleys,  many  of  whom  have  fallen,  whilst 
others  are  about  to  perish,  for  Tockenberg  is  wrestling 
with  the  plague  and  the  old  home  at  Wildhaus  is  dark- 
ened by  sorrow.  The  rumor  spreads  throughout  Switz- 
erland that  Zwingle  at  last  is  dead.  Basle  is  filled  with 
mourning,  as  was  Wittenberg  when  the  funeral  cortege 
came  from  Eisleben  and  Luther  was  laid  in  the  cathe- 
dral vault.  But  this  sickness  was  not  unto  death. 
Zwingle  came  back  from  that  border-land  where  lights 
mingle  with  shadows  and  sobbings  with  angelic  songs. 
He  gathered  the  fruits  of  righteousness  from  the  furrows 
of  affliction.  "  The  gospel,  which  had  hitherto  been  too 
much  regarded  by  him  as  a  doctrine,  now  became  a  great 
reality.  He  arose  from  the  darkness  of  the  sepulchre 
with  a  new  heart.  His  zeal  became  more  active,  his 
life  more  holy,  his  preaching  more  free,  more  Christian, 
more  powerful.  This  was  the  epoch  of  Zwingle's  com- 
plete emancipation  ;  henceforward  he  consecrated  him- 
self entirely  to  God." 

It  was  probably  tw^o  years  after  the  plague,  in  1522, 
that  Zwingle  was  married  to  Anna  Reinhardt,  a  widow  ; 
but  the  fact  of  his  marriage  was  unwisely  concealed 
until  two  years  later.  Zwingle  feared  that  the  violation 
of  his  vow  of  celibacy,  although  the  breaking  of  it  was 
more  meritorious  than  the  keeping  of  it  would  have  been, 
might  militate  against  his  usefulness  by  wounding  the 
weak  consciences  of  some  and  increasing  the  hostilit}'  on 


238  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

the  part  of  others.  Something  may  be  said  in  palliation 
of  his  mistake,  since  he  lived  in  a  peculiar  age  and  in 
the  midst  of  peculiar  trials;  but  secret  marriages  are 
wrong  and  always  to  be  condemned.  His  wife  was  a 
woman  of  great  excellence  of  character,  of  whom  Gla- 
rean  said,  '^she  was  to  be  preferred  to  a  king's  daugh- 
ter.^'  She  was  to  Zwingle  a  faithful  and  helpful  com- 
panion, and  his  care  of  her  was  as  honorable  as  his  love 
was  profound.  He  also  enjoyed  the  fellowship  of  a  few 
kindred  spirits,  chief  among  whom  was  Oswald  Myco- 
nius,  who  had  been  rector  of  St.  Theodore's  School  at 
Berne,  later  of  St.  Peter's  School  at  Basle,  and  afterward 
a  resident  of  Zurich.  Ulrich  and  Oswald  were  almost 
inseparable.  Their  love  was  strong  as  death.  Together 
they  talked  and  toiled  and  prayed.  Their  mutual  re-i 
lations  were  such  as  those  of  Luther  and  Melanchthonj 
or,  at  a  later  day,  of  Calvin  and  Farel.  The  friends 
parted  in  great  sorrow,  each  commending  the  other  t( 
the  care  of  God  and  breathing  that  significant  and  his-l 
toric  word  which  had  come  down  the  ages — Mizpah. 

Occasionally  some  friend  of  earlier   days  visited  th< 
Lake  City,  and  letters  came  more  frequently  from  Oswald,] 
Hedio,  Capito  and  others  encouraging  him  in  his  diffi- 
cult work.     John  Glother  of  Basle  expressed  his  strong! 
aflPection   for  the  Beformer,  and   indicated   in   part  tlie] 
ground   of  it  when  he  wrote,  "Oh,  my  dear  Zwingle, 
never  can  I  forget  you.    You  have  won  my  affections  by 
that  gracefulness  of  manner,  that  inexpressible  suavity, 
with  which  you  subdue  all  hearts."     His  fame  had  now 
crossed  the  Alps,  and   messages  of  commendation  and 
love  came  to  him  from  those  who  fought  like  battles  on  I 
other  fields.    Meanwhile  enemies  sought  his  life.    Poison i 


ULRiCH  ZW INGLE:    LATER  MINISTRY.       239 

and  puiguard  were  summoned  to  put  an  end  to  the  Ref- 
ormation which  papal  authority  could  not  check.  Zwiu- 
gle  was  unmoved.  He  planted  his  feet  on  the  everlast- 
ing Rock,  within  the  roar  but  above  the  violence  of  the 
waves.  Standing  on  that  serene  height,  he  predicted 
tlie  downfall  of  Rome,  on  his  face  the  gleam  of  a  peace- 
ful day ;  for  possessing  a  soul  of  more  than  common 
stature,  he  saw  the  peaks  of  coming  events  hidden  from 
other  eyes. 

Then  Avas  assembled  the  Helvetic  diet  at  Zurich, 
Zwingle's  own  city.  An  effort  was  made  to  suppress  all 
preaching  which  contravened  the  teachings  of  Rome  or 
impaired  the  influence  of  the  old  monasteries,  the  centres 
of  papal  power.  But  Zwingle,  firm  as  Luther  at  the  Diet 
of  Worms,  declared  his  purpose  to  preach  the  gospel,  cost 
what  it  might.  If  his  teachings  could  be  shown  to  be 
in  conflict  with  the  word  of  God,  he  would  submit  to 
any  censure  or  punishment  the  council  might  inflict. 
His  spirit  was  temperate  and  his  speech  mild.  But 
there  he  stood,  immovable  as  the  mountain  which  looked 
down  on  the  distracted  city.  The  moral  heroism  tri- 
umphed. God  was  in  it  and  wrought  by  it.  Zwingle 
continued  to  exalt  Christ,  and  new  fields  opened  to  the 
intrepid  preacher.  Like  Paul  at  Appii  Forum,  he 
tlianked  God  and  took  courage. 

But  there  were  wars  and  rumors  of  w^ars.  The  sons 
of  Helvetia,  noble  and  humble,  had  gone  down  in  the 
shock  of  battle,  and  the  voice  of  weeping  swept  over 
the  land.  The  enemies  of  Switzerland  had  gained  a 
signal  victory.  French  hostility  joined  hands  with 
Rome,  and  the  Reformation  trembled  on  the  verge  of 
extinction.     But  God  was  the  refuge  of  his  people,  and 


240  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

they  grew  calm,  even  though  the  seas  roared  and  the 
mountains  shook  with  the  swelling  thereof. 

Then  light  arose  in  the  darkness.  One  and  another, 
counting  the  cost,  even  courting  the  martyr's  crowu, 
stood  forth  on  the  field  of  truth  and  pledged  undying 
fealty  to  the  Church.  Preachers  of  the  word  multiplied. 
The  belt  of  life  widened.  Friends  of  the  Reformation  as- 
sembled at  Einsidlen,  and  from  its  commanding  summits 
surveyed  the  better  future.  The  conflict,  which  was  to  end 
in  a  far-reaching  peace,  was  severe.  Tlie  storm  lowered 
over  Lucerne  and  Zurich,  then  smote  them  with  its 
hail.  Like  Luther  at  Wartburg,  Zwingle  betook  him- 
self to  God  in  prayer.  His  tearful  cry  joined  the  wail 
of  the  tempest,  pierced  the  clouds,  reached  the  ear  of  the 
Lord  of  Sabaoth,  and  the  Reformer  felt  the  support  of 
an  almighty  arm,  an  assuring  voice  saying,  "  Lo  I  am 
with  you  alway." 

Zwingle  rested  his  faith  on  the  word  of  God.  His 
system  of  doctrine,  drawn  from  this  divine  source,  was 
substantially  that  of  Augustine,  for  he  was  taught  by 
the  same  Spirit.  Being  an  Augustinian,  he  was  in 
accord,  so  far  as  concerned  essential  truth,  with  Mar- 
tin Luther.  These  two  men,  the  most  remarkable  of 
that  age,  did  not  meet  until  after  the  work  of  each  was 
far  advanced.  Zwingle  often  said  substantially,  "  If 
Luther  preaches  in  "Wittenberg  the  same  gospel  I 
preach  in  Zurich,  then  I  am  a  Lutheran  ;  if  otherwise, 
I  am  not."  Every  man  who  believes  anything  has  a 
creed,  for  a  creed  is  his  credo,  or  that  which  he  believes. 
Zwingle  had  his.  Its  leading  features  he  had  stated. 
He  held  that  man  was  created  holy,  but  had  fallen. 
Recovery  was  not  his  work,  but  God's.     ''  Christ,  very 


ULBICn  ZW INGLE:    LATER  MINISTRY.        241 

Qiau  and  very  God/'  he  said,  '^  lias  purchased  for  us  a 
never-ending  rederaptiou.  His  sufleriug  satisfies  the 
divine  justice  for  ever  in  behalf  of  those  who  by  an 
unshaken  faith  rely  upon  it.  If  we  could  have  been 
saved  by  our  works,  it  w^ould  not  have  been  necessary 
for  Clirist  to  die.  All  who  have  ever  come  to  God  have 
come  to  him  through  the  death  of  Jesus  Clirist.  Christ 
lives  and  acts  in  him.  Christ  alone  is  his  leader,  and 
he  needs  no  other  guide.  Wherever  there  is  faith  in 
God,  there  God  is ;  and  wherever  God  abideth,  there  a 
zeal  exists  urging  and  impelling  men  to  do  good  works. 
The  life  of  a  Christian  is  one  of  perpetual  good  works, 
which  God  begins,  continues  and  completes.'' 

Here  you  observe  the  essentials  of  Christianity.  The 
word  of  God  our  rule  of  life ;  Jesus  Christ  divine  and 
yet  human,  two  natures  united  in  one  person,  and  this 
Immanuel  the  representative  of  sinners;  atonement 
effected  by  Christ's  obedience  unto  death,  availing  for 
all  who  believe ;  the  necessity  of  a  holy  life  and  its 
consummation  through  grace,  succeeded  by  an  eternal 
residence  with  Christ  in  glory.  All  perish  who  re- 
fuse or  neglect  this  great  salvation,  God's  only  rem- 
edy for  sin.  ^* 

He  also  held  the  doctrine  of  personal  election,  yet 
not  as  conflicting  with  man's  free  agency  and  account- 
ability to  God.  He  preached  the  same  evangelical  sys- 
tem which  has  distinguished  the  Calvinistic  churches  of 
these  latter  days  from  the  Arminian. 

The  influence  of  Zwingle  is  further  seen  in  the  re- 
sponse the  council  of  Zurich  made  to  the  cantons  which 
supported  the  papacy  and  complained  of  the  revolution- 
ary sentiments  which  were  gaining  ground  in  the  canton 


242  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

of  Zurich.  The  council  declared  its  confidence  in  Zwin- 
gle  and  his  associates.  "  At  first,  indeed,  their  doctrine 
had  appeared  novel,  because  they  had  heard  nothing  of 
the  kind  before  ;  but  when  they  came  to  understand  that 
the  scope  of  it  was  simply  this — to  exhibit  Christ  as  the 
Author  and  Finisher  of  our  salvation,  who  had  shed  his 
precious  blood  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  alone  de- 
livered wretched  mortals  from  eternal  death,  and  who  is 
the  only  Mediator  between  God  and  man — they  could 
not  but  embrace  such  glad  tidings  with  ardent  zeal.  .  .  . 
That,  as  to  what  the  bishops  said,  of  its  not  being  law- 
ful for  them  to  make  the  Scriptures  so  common,  it  was 
supported  by  no  sufficient  reason :  they  were  referred 
only  to  Fathers  and  councils,  but  their  wish  was  to  hear 
not  what  men  had  decreed,  but  what  Christ  willed  and 
commanded.  .  .  .  That  it  seemed  to  them  just  that  the 
goods  of  convents  and  colleges  of  regulars  should  be 
applied  to  the  use  of  the  poor,  which  was  their  original 
design,  and  not  to  be  employed  in  pampering  persons 
w^ho  did  not  need  them ;  yet,  in  order  that  no  one  might 
have  just  cause  of  complaint,  they  had  allowed  their 
present  possessors  to  enjoy  them  for  their  lives.  .  .  . 
That  the  costly  ornamenting  of  churches  was  no  part 
of  the  worship  of  God,  but  that  the  relief  of  the  poor 
and  miserable  was  higldy  acceptable  to  him ;  and 
Christ's  command  to  the  rich  young  man  was,  not  to 
hang  up  his  wealth  in  churches  for  a  show,  but  to  sell 
all  that  he  had  and  give  to  the  poor.  .  .  .  That  what 
was  the  worth  of  auricular  confession  or  the  recounting 
of  sins  to  a  priest  they  would  not  take  upon  them  to 
determine;  but  the  confession  with  which  true  peni- 
tents betook  themselves  to  Christ  must  be  esteemed  not 


ULRTCH  ZWINGLE:    LATER  MINISTRY.        243 

only  useful,  but  indispeusable/'  This  is  a  remarkable 
document  to  proceed  from  a  state  council.  It  would  be 
I  a  novelty  in  our  times.  It  shows  that  the  Reformation 
was  taking  long  steps  among  the  mountains  of  Switzer- 
land, and  that  Zwingle,  who  worked  quietly,  but  with 
a  will  that  amounted  to  genius,  was  bringing  long- 
I  buried  truth  to  light  and  laying  the  foundations  for  a 
scriptural  and  spiritual  Church  which  shall  stand  until 
the  Lord  shall  come. 

At  the  public  disputation  in  Zurich  in  1523,  Zwingle 
presented  sixty-five  theses,  in  which  "  both  the  formal 
and  the  material  principles  of  the  Reformation  are  set 
forth  with  great  completeness  and  applied  with  merciless 
\  logic.     But  the  most  characteristic  and  original  feature  in 
\  them  is  the  new  principle  which  is  added — the  principle 
\  of  ecclesiastical  polity  which  has  exercised  so  decisive  an 
influence  on  the  whole   development  and   organization 
!  of  the  Reformed  Church.     The  congregation,  and    not 
i  the  hierarchy,  say  the  theses,  is  the  representative  of 
the  Church,  and  to  the  congregation,  consequently,  and 
I  not  to  the  hierarchy,  belongs  the  right  of  considering 
the  discrepancies  which  may  arise  between  the  doctrine 
and  the  practice  of  the  Churcli.     The  administration  of 
the  Church  belongs,  like  all  administration,  to  the  state 
authorities — a  proposition  which  at  once  overthrows  the 
whole  fabric  of  the  Church  of  Rome.     But,  the  theses 
add,  if  the  state  authorities  go  beyond  the  ordinance  of 
Christ,  let  them   be   deposed.      Tlie  disputation  ended 
with  a  complete  victory  for  Zwingle  :  the  Reformation 
was  formally  adopted  for  the  territory  of  Zurich.'^    Pope 
Adrian  VI.,  thinking  to  silence  this  enemy  of  the  hier- 
archy, offered  him  everything  but  the  papal  chair,  yet 


244  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

the  Reformer  scorned  the  bribes  and  stood  unmoved  in 
his  lot. 

Although  the  Reformed  churches  did  not  agree  as 
regards  certain  tenets  which  are  styled  non-essentials, 
the  acceptance  of  them  not  being  necessary  to  salvation, 
yet  they  were  a  unit  so  far  as  related  to  fundamental 
truth.  They  planted  themselves  on  the  Rock  of  Ages. 
They  discarded  the  philosophies  of  the  most  cultured 
age  which  knew  not  Christ — philosophies  which  Rome 
accepted.  They  gloried  only  in  the  cross.  The  Re- 
formers in  Germany,  Switzerland,  Holland,  France  and 
England  all  took  the  attitude  of  the  wilderness  preacher, 
their  backs  on  Athens,  their  faces  toward  Jerusalem,  and, 
moved  with  profoundest  pity  for  the  lost,  exclaimed, 
"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  whicli  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world,''  This  was  the  burden  of  Zwingle's 
preaching. 

^  Of  his  ministry  in  Zurich  our  Reformer  says :  "  By 
no  cunningly  devised  modes  of  address,  but  in  the  use  of 
simple  words  of  our  own  country's  native  growth,  I 
have  led  the  people  to  the  knowledge  of  their  disease, 
following  our  Lord's  example,  who  commenced  from 
this  point.  ...  I  have  earnestly  exhorted  the  people  to 
hold  fast  the  glory  of  our  profession,  having  a  *  great 
High  Priest,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  who  is  passed  into 
the  heavens,'  and  not  to  seek  honor  one  of  another — a 
practice  which  led  away  the  Jews  from  faith  in  Christ. 
As  much  as  in  me  lieth  I  withdraw  men  from  confi- 
dence in  any  creature,  to  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ,  his  only  Son,  our  Lord,  in  whom  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  shall  never  die.  With  all  the  earnestness  of 
which  I  am  capable  I  urge  them  to  seek  pardon  from 


ULRICH  ZW INGLE:  LATER  MLWISTRY.        245 

Him  who  invites  iis  to  turn  to  him  even  when  we  have 
sinned,  saying,  '  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest/  This  word  of 
his  I  so  firmly  believe  that  should  circumstances  require 
I  think  I  have  no  need  of  either  bishop  or  priest  to 
make  satisfaction  for  me,  for  whom  Christ  hath  done 
that,  who  ^gave  himself  an  offering  for  us,  and  hath 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood.'  I  exhort 
men  to  pray  without  ceasing,  but  to  do  it  with  the  spirit 
and  the  heart;  Mn  spirit  and  in  truth/  as  our  Lord's 
words  are ;  and  to  persevere  therein  with  an  importunity 
which  might  seem  to  be  wearisome,  according  to  the 
parable  of  the  w^idow/' 

Zwingle's  statements  of  evangelical  truth  were  calm, 
clear  and  logical.  His  appeal  was  always  made  to  the 
word  of  God.  Less  impetuous  than  Luther,  seldom 
moving  great  assemblies  by  that  impassioned  oratory 
which  distinguislied  the  Wittenberg  monk,  and  never 
reaching,  in  defence  of  the  truth,  that  moral  grandeur 
which  immortalized  the  latter  at  the  Diet  of  Worms,  in 
some  respects  he  was  a  safer  guide.  He  did  not  agree 
with  Luther's  views  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Whilst 
Luther  rejected  the  Romish  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tiou,  the  conversion  of  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  sacra- 
ment into  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  wav- 
ing of  a  priest's  hand  turning  mere  emblems  into  a  very 
God — a  doctrine  alike  contradictory  to  the  Scriptures 
and  to  common  sense — yet,  as  is  well  known,  he  held  a 
view  which  closely  approximates  to  t  ran  substantiation 
and  is  less  comprehensible — commonly  called  consub- 
stantiation.  He  maintained  that  the  bread  and  the 
wine  remain  unchanged,  but  tliat  there  is  present  with 


246  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

them  the  substance  of  the  body  of  Christ,  literally  re 
ceived  by  the  communicant. 

Zwingle  taught  that  the  elements  in  the  Eucharist  are 
simply  oiiiblems  of  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ.  The 
expression,  '^  This  is  my  body/'  is  not  to  be  literally  in- 
terpreted any  more  than  the  like  expressions,  "  I  am  the 
door  "  and  ^^  I  am  the  true  vine.''  The  bread  sig-nifies 
or  represents  the  body ;  the  wine,  the  blood  of  our  Lord. 
In  this  view  Zwingle  was  undoubtedly  correct,  and 
Luther's  theory  of  consubstantiation  was  wrong.  So 
say  most  of  the  Reformed  churches  of  to-day.  Yet 
Zwin2:le,  in  his  reaction  from  Rome  as  touchino;  this 
sacrament,  erred  in  making  it  simply  a  memorial.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  grace,  and  something 
more  is  intended  by  our  Confession,  which,  in  harmony 
with  the  view  of  other  evangelical  churches,  teaches 
that  in  the  sacrament  we  receive,  not  corporally  but 
spiritually,  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord.  Faith 
feeds  upon  Christ.  The  soul  is  nourished.  The  de- 
vout communicant  goes  up  to  higher  grounds.  The 
graces  of  the  Spirit  grow  stronger  as  he  communes  with 
Christ  in  this  beautiful  and  significant  rite  of  Christ's 
own  appointment.  Zwingle  rejected  the  mass,  which 
claimed  to  be  a  repetition  of  Christ's  sacrifice.  The 
oifering  made  on  Calvary  was  made  for  all  time.  The 
mass  degrades  the  cross  ;  it  makes  the  priest  a  savior. 
It  places  the  altar  of  human  creation  between  the  soul 
and  the  Lamb  of  God.  Zwingle  presented  his  views 
in  the  ^reat  council.  His  friend  Oswald  Mvconius  and 
prominent  men  of  Zurich  expressed  their  accord  with 
him.  They  asked  that  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  instituted 
by  Christ  and  observed  by  the  apostles,  should  be  re^ 


ULRICH  ZWINGLE:  LATER   MINISTRY.        247 

stored  in  its  simplicity  and  spiritual  significance.  The 
council  was  deeply  moved  both  by  the  words  and  by  the 
spirit  of  the  petitions.  It  was  a  solemn  and  interesting 
day  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  The  council  decided 
that  the  mass  should  be  suppressed  and  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per celebrated  in  accordance  with  apostolic  usage. 

On  the  following  day,  which  was  '^  Holy  Thursday," 
the  old  cathedral  witnessed  the  re-establishment  of  the 
sacrament.  It  was  like  a  passage  from  a  sepulchre  cold, 
dark  and  offensive  into  the  genial  sunlight,  the  air 
fragrant  with  flowers  and  resonant  with  song.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  darkness  of  ages  had  been  cleft  and  the  light 
of  apostolic  days  had  shone  through.  The  living  Christ 
again  sat  at  the  board,  and  John  leaned  upon  his  bosom. 
For  three  consecutive  days  the  Supper  was  celebrated, 
the  communicants  being  divided  into  three  classes — the 
young,  the  middle-aged  and  the  old.  The  younger 
people  shed  tears  of  joy.  The  older  men  and  women 
turned  their  eyes  toward  Christ's  home,  now  in  sight. 
We  sit  in  the  radiance  of  that  day  which  gilded  the  hill- 
tops and  flooded  the  valleys  of  the  Switzerland. 

Zwingle  and  Luther  met  at  the  council  at  Marburg. 
The  landgrave  of  Hesse  had  convened  these  men  and 
other  representatives  of  the  conflicting  views  touching 
the  Lord's  Supper.  They  agreed  on  all  other  points. 
The  controversy  was  prolonged.  Luther  insisted  on  a 
real  presence  in  the  sacrament.  He  was  immovable. 
Zwingle  was  firm,  but  milder  than  the  sturdy  Saxon. 
At  length,  agreement  being  impossible,  he  said  with  much 
gentleness  and  affection,  "  Martin  Luther,  let  us  confess 
our  union  in  all  things  in  which  we  agree,  and,  as  for  the 
rest,  let   us  remember  that   we  are  brothers,   with  the 

17 


248  EOMANISM  A^^D   THE  REFORMERS. 

same  cause  at  heart.  While  we  all  hold  the  grand  doc- 
trine of  salvation  by  faith,  we  cannot  consent  to  <liffer 
on  minor  points."  The  landgrave  joined  in  the  appeal. 
There  was  an  anxious  pause.  Will  Luther  yield? 
Zwingle  advanced  toward  the  latter,  great  tears  rolling 
down  his  careworn  face,  and  extended  his  hand.  Luther 
refused  it.  The  principle  of  Christian  union,  agreement 
in  essential  truths  and  libertv  of  thouo;ht  in  other  thino-s 
was  rejected  by  the  man  who  by  the  opposite  course 
might  have  added  additional  lustre  to  his  name  and 
aided  that  Reformation  of  which  he  was  the  glorious  sun. 
The  Swiss  Reformers  departed  in  sadness,  yet  uttering 
no  words  of  reproach.  We  admire  Zwingle's  spirit 
at  Marburg,  and  the  memory  of  it  mantles  his  later 
faults. 

Rome  exulted  over  the  disputes  of  the  Reformers. 
The  Reformation  suffered  a  temporary  check.  i\Iany 
who  were  favorably  disposed  to  it  feared  such  divergence 
of  sentiment  as  would  multiply  organic  divisions  in  tlie 
Protestant  Church,  and  so  strengthen  the  power  of  the 
papists,  who  were  professedly  a  unit  in  their  beliefs. 
Yet  these  unhappy  divisions  were  no  doubt  overruled 
for  good.  The  truth  was  conserved  by  them.  The 
Church  of  the  Reformation  escaped  the  snares  which 
beset  the  Roman  hierarchy.  The  latter  had  grown  to  l)e 
an  ecclesiastical  monopoly.  It  arrogated  to  itself  a 
blasphemous  infallibility.  It  trampled  on  all  freedom  of 
thought  and  hurried  the  heretic  to  the  block  or  the  stake. 

Truth   is    many  sided.     It  is  broad    and    high.     No 

mind  can   comprehend  its  fullness  nor  set  in  order  its 

varied  relations.     Luther's  consubstantiation  may  have 

"embodied  an  important  truth,  as  did   Zwingle's  view  of 


ULEIGH  ZW INGLE:    LATER  MINISTRY.        249 

the  sacrameut.  The  one  magnified  the  presence  of  Christ ; 
the  other  simplified  the  ordinance,  and  removed  it,  further 
than  did  Luther's,  from  the  errors  of  Rome.  And  now, 
in  the  prevailing  belief  of  Christendom,  the  erroneous 
elements  have  been  eliminated  from  both,  and  we  have 
attained  a  more  scriptural  apprehension  of  the  nature 
and  design  of  this  divine  ordinance.  The  Rhone  and 
the  Arve  of  the  Reformation,  mutually  repellant  for  a 
time,  have  become  a  more  harmonious  unity,  clarified 
in  the  passage  and  more  helpful  to  the  spiritual  life. 

At  this  stage,  the  two  Reformers  maintaining  divergent 
views,  Rome  would  gladly  have  received  Zwingle  back 
to  the  bosom  of  the  Church.  Papists  said  liUther  was 
past  reclamation,  but  the  Swiss  heretic  might  be  restored. 
Might  not  a  bribe  avail?  They  exhibited  the  regalia  of 
an  imposing  hierarchy,  and  intimated  that  a  bishop's  mitre 
or  a  cardinal's  hat  should  crown  the  head  of  the  return- 
ing prodigal.  But  Zwingle  was  immovable  as  his  Saxon 
brother.  Then  Lucerne  hung  him  in  Q^gy,  and  so 
predicted  an  ignominious  death.  But  he  remained  firm, 
trusting  in  God.  Hottinger,  who  had  denounced  the 
mass  as  a  lie,  was  beheaded.  Still,  Zwingle  was  unin- 
timidated,  ready  to  preach  the  truth  with  holy  boldness, 
and  ready,  too,  to  wear  a  martyr's  crown.  He  simplified 
the  worship  of  the  Reformed  Church.  Pagan  features 
were  cast  off;  crucifixes  and  pictures  were  removed  from 
the  walls  of  the  churches.  Even  the  organ,  which  Rome 
had  abused,  was  rejected.  Appeals  to  the  senses  and 
whatever  promoted  mere  sentimentality  were  discon- 
tinued. Thereafter  the  people  transacted  more  directly 
with  God.  Worship  became  less  aesthetic  but  more 
spiritual,  and  the  Church  went  up  to  higher  plains. 


250  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

But  the  way  was  not  uniformly  smooth  nor  the 
ascent  continuous.  Zwingle  kept  his  eyes  on  the  heights 
which  seemed  to  touch  the  jasper  walls,  but  there  were 
rough  places  in  the  roacl,  sharp  stones  that  pierced  the 
feet  and  dark  ravines  through  which  he  traveled  wear- 
ily on.  Soon  these  troubles  culminated  in  war.  The 
five  cantons  of  Switzerland  which  adhered  to  the 
Romish  Church  were  arrayed  against  the  two  cantons 
which  supported  the  Reformation — Zurich  and  Berne. 
The  papists  demanded  submission  to  the  pope.  An 
alarming  message  was  sent  to  the  pulpit  of  the  cathe- 
dral in  Zurich.  Zwingle  heard  the  mutteriugs  of  the  ap- 
proaching storm  and  the  tramp  of  bloodthirsty  foes.  The 
red  banner  is  already  moving  northward.  The  cathedral 
seems  to  grow  strangely  dark.  The  place  is  solemn  as 
eternity.  What  shall  be  done?  Does  Zwingle  waver? 
Not  by  a  hair's  breadth.  Lifting  his  hand  toward 
heaven  he  said,  "  Never  will  I  deny  my  Redeemer.'* 
The  scene  was  sublime.  It  links  itself  with  the  grander 
attitude  of  Luther  in  the  presence  of  Charles  Y.  and 
under  the  shadow  of  the  pontifical  sword.  He  left  the 
])ulpit,  and  never  returned  to  it.  He  had  unwisely  coun- 
seled war.  His  weapons  hereafter  are  to  be  carnal  rather 
than  spiritual.  It  was  a  sad  mistake.  The  great  coun- 
cil assembled  at  Zurich.  It  vacillated,  then  decided. 
The  gauntlet  was  thrown  down.  The  night  set  in. 
The  elements  were  in  commotion.  The  tempest  rolled 
its  thunders  across  the  dark  fields  of  the  sky,  and  the 
sobbings  of  women  and  children  mingled  with  the  wail 
of  the  storm.  The  ringing  of  bells — a  call  not  to  wor- 
ship, but  to  war — only  seemed  to  heighten  the  universal 
terror. 


'  ULBICH  ZWTNGLE:    LATER  MINISTRY.        251 

The  next  raorDing  Zwingle  mounted  his  war-steed. 
He  believed  God  called  him,  and  he  was  prepared  for 
the  worst.     If  the  Reformation  must  fall  on  the  battle- 

I  field,  he  would  fall  with  it,  Without  it  life  would  be  a 
burden  only  and  the  earth  accursed.  As  he  rode  down 
the  street  his  wife  looked  on  with  eyes  undimmed.     She 

II  had  long  been  in  the  school  of  suffering,  and  was  inured 
I   to  pain.     She  accepted  this  new  trial  as  direct  from  God, 

and  meekly  said,  "  Holy  Father,  thy  will  be  done."     A 

little  baud  of  Zurichers,  not  over  five  hundred  in   all, 

and  Zwingle  their  captain,  went  forth  to  the  unhappy 

strife.     Over  the  stormy  heights  and  adown  the  valleys 

they  urged  their  way.     They  ascended  the  Albis.    They 

I  hastened  through  Husen.     They  entered  the  deep  woods 

\  beyond  it.     Their  foes  were  concealed,  watching   their 

advance.     The  guns  of  the  papists  were   lowered.     A 

calm  voice  sounded  down  the  line,  ^'  In  the  name  of  the 

Holy  Trinity,  of  God   the  Father,  the   Son   and   the 

Holy  Ghost,  of  the  Holy  Mother  of  God  and  of  all 

the  heavenly  host,  fire  I"     Brave  Zurichers  bit  the  dust. 

Their  surviving  brothers  were  exhorted  to  quit  them- 

j   selves  like  men.     Zwingle,  as  their  captain,  bade  them 

I  be  strong.     ^'Warriors  !''  he  cried,  "  fear  nothing.     Our 

\  cause   is   good.     Commend   yourselves  to   God."     The 

\  battle  grew  fierce.     Guns  answered  guns.     Before   the 

fire  of  the  Waldstettes  the  Zurichers  fell  as  the  corn 

before  the  scythe.     Lavater,  their  general,  was  in  the 

j  ditch.     Gerold  Meyer  of  Knonau,  son  of  Anna  Zwingle, 

slept  his  last  sleep.     John    Haller,  the  brave  preacher 

and  courageous  soldier,  and  many  of  the  mighty  men 

of  Zurich   were  slain.     Zwingle  in    his   warrior   dress 

bends  over  a  dying  man,  bidding  him  in  this  dark  hour 


252  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFOBMEBS. 

trust  in  Him  who  conquered  death.  As  he  spoke  a  stone 
which  the  enemy  threw  smote  him  to  the  ground.  He 
rose  as  the  blows  thickened,  only  to  fall  again.  Then  a 
Waldstette  thrust  him  with  a  lance,  and  as  he  saw  the 
life-current  flowing  out  and  down,  he  exclaimed,  "  They 
may  indeed  kill  the  body,  but  they  cannot  kill  the  soul.'* 
The  words  had  scarce  passed  his  lips  when  he  fell  to  the 
earth,  his  face  toward  heaven.  The  enemy  pursued  the 
Zurichers,  trampling  on  the  bodies  of  their  dead.  The 
battle  at  Cappel  has  issued,  for  the  Protestant  cantons, 
in  an  inglorious  defeat.  Their  leaders  are  slain.  The 
flower  of  their  youth  cover  the  high  places.  Their 
widows  and  children  mourn  and  refuse  to  be  comforted. 
Zwingle,  the  great  and  beloved,  the  Luther  of  Helvetia, 
his  name  the  synonym  of  moral  grandeur,  whose  faults 
declared  him  human  and  magnified  the  grace  of  God 
Avhich  wrought  in  and  through  him,  has  perished  by  the 
sword.  Ages  will  pass  before  Switzerland  shall  know 
his  like  again.  Only  eight-and-forty  years  of  age,  not 
robed  in  the  garment  of  peace,  but  in  a  martial  cloak, 
on  his  head  a  helmet  and  in  his  hand  a  sword,  he  passes 
through  death  to  the  invisible  beyond.  Would  that  he 
had  gone,  as  did  Luther  who  followed  him,  from  the 
pulpit  to  the  grave,  or  from  loving  ministries  among  his 
Zurich  flock  to  the  green  pastures  of  the  better  laud  ! 
But  God  otherwise  permitted.  And  from  the  shadow 
of  the  pear  tree  under  which  he  died  and  was  burned  to 
ashes  there  ring  out  to  the  earth's  limits  and  down  to 
our  happier  age  the  words  of  Martin  Luther,  a  sad  re- 
proof and  an  impressive  warning:  "Christians  fight 
not  with  sword  and  arquebuse,  but  with  suiferings  and 
the  cross,"  or  that  diviner  word  of  the  Prince  of  peace, 


ULRICH  ZWIiXGLE:   LATER  MINISTRY.        253 

"  Thej  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the 
sword/^ 

There  was  great  lameutatlou  in  Zurich  wheu  it  was 
announced,  ^^  Zwingle  is  dead/^  Anna,  the  sorrow-bur- 
dened widow,  with  her  children  about  her.  bowed  in 
uncontrollable  grief  at  her  Saviour's  feet  and  besought 
strength  to  bear  her  load.  And  when  the  cry  went  down 
the  streets,  '' Avengers  of  Zwingle's  death,  on  to  Albis  !" 
an  excited  throng  hastened  toward  the  battle-ground  of 
Cappel.  But  better  counsels  jn-evailed.  The  conquerors 
entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  vanquished  cantons,  by 
which  was  granted  to  the  latter  the  undisturbed  posses- 
sion of  the  faith  for  which  they  had  so  bravely  fought. 
And  thus,  though  at  a  fearful  cost,  the  Reformation  In 
Zurich  and  Berne  held  Its  ground.  Purged  by  fire  and 
baptized  with  blood,  it  marched  forth  to  grander  tri- 
umphs on  the  fields  of  truth.  The  g<:)spel  of  peace 
spread  abroad.  Down  the  valleys  it  extended  its  benig- 
nant sway.  In  Tockenberg  and  on  all  the  Alpine  slopes 
it  reared  its  sanctuaries,  and  simple  spires  pointed  heav- 
enward. Beyond  the  limits  of  the  Switzer's  mountain- 
girt  home,  it  traveled  westward,  over  the  plains  of  beau- 
tiful France  and  across  the  Channel  to  the  British  Isles, 
whence,  in  another  age,  rebaptized  with  blood.  It  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  dwell  amid  primeval  forests  along  our 
eastern  coast,  pursuing  thence  Its  triumphant  way  to  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  nay,  far  beyond  it,  to  that 
"continuous  wood  where  flows  the  Oregon."  - 

Thanks  be  unto  God  for  the  precious  faith  he  restored 
to  the  race  by  the  hands  of  Luther  and  Zwingle ;  for  the 
religious  freedom  of  our  times ;  for  all  the  fruits  of 
ria;hteousuess  which   beautifv  our  own  and  other  lands, 


254  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

and  for  the  blessed  hope  which  adds  histre  to  our  da>'s 
and  ilhimines  our  nights,  that  Jesus,  the  Sin-atoner  and 
Advocate  with  the  Father,  will  come  again  and  make 
this  sin-defiled,  woe-disfigured  earth  his  own  fair  earth 
again  ! 

O  thou  blessed  Christ,  only  Head  of  the  Church,  only 
Saviour  of  the  lost,  hasten  it  in  thy  time !     Amen. 


i 


CALVIN  IN   FRANCE. 


''Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  hath  blessed  us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly 
places  in  Christ :  accordirig  as  he  hath  chosen  21s  in  him  before 
the  fou7idation  of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy  and  with- 
out blame  before  him  in  love.'' 

Eph.  I  :  3,  4. 

"  The  doctrine  of  this  high  mystery  of  predestination  is  to  be 
handled  with  special  prudeiice  and  care,  that  men  attending 
the  will  of  God  revealed  in  his  word,  and  yielding  obedience 
thereunto,  7nay,from  the  ceiiainty  of  their  effectual  vocation, 
be  ass2i7'ed  of  their  eternal  election.  So  shall  this  doctrine  af- 
ford matter  of  praise,  reverence,  and  adriiiration  of  God ;  and 
of  humility,  diligence,  and  abundant  consolation  to  all  that 
sincerely  obey  the  gospel.'" 

Con.  Faith,  chap.  hi.  sec.  viii. 


CALVIN  m  FRANCE. 


WE  are  to  study  the  life  of  John  Calvin,  the  great 
French  Reformer,  the  expounder  and  defender  of 
that  system  of  faith  which  bears  his  name,  the  system 
set  forth  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  which  had  become 
obscured  by  the  erroneous  teachings  of  the  papacy,  and 
was  brought  to  light  again  in  the  sixteenth  century  with 
a  clearness  of  annunciation  and  a  measure  of  spiritual 
power  which  made  it  appear  almost  a  new  revelation 
from  heaven. 

For  centuries  the  Church  in  France,  as  in  the  remoter 
East,  had  been  departing  from  the  simplicity  of  the  Gos- 
pel. The  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christianity — justifi- 
cation by  faith — was  fading  from  the  minds  of  men,  and 
a  blind  legal  obedience  had  been  substituted  for  the 
righteousness  of  our  Lord.  The  intercession  of  saints 
was  practically  extolled  above  the  mediation  of  Christ; 
the  pope  was  lifted  to  the  dignity  of  a  god,  and  a  super- 
stitious worship  took  the  place  of  spiritual  culture. 
The  priesthood  was  ignorant,  depraved  and  corrupting. 
The  people  were  sunk  in  all  manner  of  vice,  and  the 
world  seemed  drifting  away  into  heathenism,  dark  and 
hopeless,  whilst  a  material  cross,  its  spiritual  significance 
almost  or  quite  forgotten,  lifted  to  the  dome  of  a  Christ- 
less  religion,  intercepted  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness and  threw  its  deadly  shadow  along  the  track  of 

257  ^ 


258  BOMANJSM  AND   THE  REFORMEBS, 

the  ages.  There  remained,  it  is  true,  reminiscences  of 
the  apostolic  faith.  There  were  shreds  of  truth  woven 
in  the  winding-sheet  of  death.     A  few  were  able  to  dis- 

o 

criminate  between  the  true  and  the  false,  and  now  and 
then  appeared  examples  of  piety  which  shone  like  tapers 
in  the  midst  of  the  darkness,  yet  failed  to  disperse  the 
gloom. 

But  God  has  not  forgotten  his  covenant.  The  world 
has  been  purchased  by  the  blood  of  his  Son,  and  Christ 
shall  inherit  it  when  the  fullness  of  time  is  come.  The 
truth  which  is  hidden  in  the  imperishable  Word  shall 
assert  its  divine  power.  The  light  which  struggles 
through  the  leaden  clouds  shall  rend  them,  and  the  now 
invisible  heavens  shall  yet  flood  the  earth  with  glory. 

When  the  monk  of  Erfurt  was  girding  himself  for 
his  life-work  God  gave  to  the  world  another  Reformer, 
whose  mission  it  was  to  do  for  France  what  Luther  did 
for  Germany,  and  to  carry  on  the  Reformation  which 
Luther  began.  John  Calvin  was  born  at  Noyon  in 
Picardy,  in  the  north  of  France,  on  the  10th  of  July, 
1509.  His  father  was  procurator  fiscal  of  the  county  of 
Noyon ;  his  mother,  Joanna  Franc,  was  reputed  to  be 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  of  her  day.  John  was 
the  second  son,  and  probably  had  four  brothers.  There 
seems  to  have  been  in  the  family  a  proclivity  to  heresy, 
as  Rome  would  style  the  Protestant  faith,  for  an  older 
brother,  when  dying,  refused  the  sacrament  of  extreme 
unction,  and  for  his  impiety  received  an  ignominious 
burial,  whilst  the  younger  members  of  the  family  were 
in  accord  with  the  illustrious  Reformer. 

In  the  seventeenth  year  of  hiv^  age  we  find  Calvin  in 
the  college  of  La  Marche,  in  Paris.     Here  he  attracted 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCE.  259 

the  attention  of  the  distinguished  professor  Miithurin 
Cordier,  and  between  the  tAvo  there  grew  up  a  strong 
and  enduring  attachment  honorable  to  both.  They  were 
much  together  during  the  intervals  of  study,  conversing 
in  the  library,  walking  the  college  halls  or  communing 
with  nature  in  the  fields  or  forest  beyond.  There  was 
much  in  the  pupiFs  sedate  deportment,  his  thirst  for 
knowledge  and  his  maturity  of  mind,  as  well  as  in  his 
quiet  and  confiding  disposition,  to  call  forth  the  respect- 
ful regard  of  the  teacher.  This  association  of  Calvin 
with  a  man  of  great  learning,  refined  taste  and  dignity 
of  character  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  young  student, 
and  he  carried  with  him  through  all  after  years  grateful 
remembrance  of  his  college  days  and  the  friendship  of 
Cordier. 

But  the  time  came  when  the  teacher  and  his  prot^g^ 
must  part.  The  separation  was  a  sorrowful  one.  Cal- 
vin was  intended  for  a  priest,  and  he  must  go  elsewhere 
to  complete  his  preparation  for  holy  orders.  His  con- 
nection thereafter  was  with  Montaigu  College  in  the 
same  city.  Here  he  outstripped  all  his  fellow-students  ; 
his  genius  surprised  his  teachers.  His  familiarity  with 
the  great  names  and  works  of  the  Augustinian  age,  and 
his  rapid  advancement  in  all  branches  of  study,  were 
perhaps  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  this  Parisian 
college.  But  he  did  not  seem  conscious  of  his  own 
superiority ;  he  was  diffident,  retiring,  to  a  fault.  He 
was  far  removed  from  levity  and  from  all  the  vices  into 
which  young  men  w^re  apt  to  fall.  He  seemed  to  move 
in  a  sphere  of  human  excellence  that  comparatively  few 
entered.  But  he  was  by  no  means  a  Christian.  At- 
tached to  the  Romish  Church,  bound  hand  and  foot  by 


260  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

its  superstitious,  atteutive  to  all  the  ceremouies  of  a  cold, 
wearisome  ritual,  he  was  reputed  emineutlj  pious.  His 
religion  was  self-righteousness.     His  life  was  death. 

But  in  the  course  of  time  the  light  which  had  arisen 
on  Germany  advanced  westward.  Mountains  were  no 
barrier  to  its  progress.  National  lines  could  set  no  limits 
to  its  onward  course.  The  fame  of  Luther  and  Melanch- 
thon  reached  Paris.  Their  names  were  spoken,  at  least 
in  whispers,  within  the  walls  of  the  Sorbonne  and  Mon- 
taigu.  The  strongest  intellects  were  the  first  to  grasp 
the  great  principles  of  the  Reformation  and  to  expe- 
rience their  power. 

Young  Calvin  turned  his  face  toward  the  East,  and 
with  an  eagle  eye  looked  steadily  and  inquiringly  on  the 
strange  light  along  the  horizon.  One  day,  in  this  atti- 
tude of  inquiry,  there  stood  beside  him  one  of  his  kins- 
men, Robert  Pierre  Olivetan,  a  convert  to  the  Protestant 
faith.  "  There  are  many  false  religions,"  said  Olivetan, 
"  and  only  one  true."  Calvin  replied  that  the  proposi- 
tion was  self-evident.  "  The  false,"  continued  his  friend, 
"  are  those  which  men  have  invented,  according  to  which 
we  are  saved  by  our  own  works ;  the  true  is  that  which 
comes  from  God,  according  to  which  salvation  is  given 
freely  from  on  high."  Calvin  looked  bewildered,  but 
weighed  every  word  as  Olivetan  proceeded:  "True  re- 
ligion is  not  that  infinite  mass  of  ceremonies  and  observ- 
ances which  the  Church  imposes  upon  its  followers  and 
which  separates  souls  from  Christ.  O  my  dear  friend, 
leave  off  shouting  with  the  papists,  The  Fathers  !  the 
Doctors  !  the  Church  !  and  listen  instead  to  the  prophets 
and  apostles.  Study  i\\Q  Scriptures."  But  Calvin  re- 
sisted the  strange  heresy.     He  believed  the  foundations 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCE.  261 

of  popery  were  on  a  rock,  aud  sooner  would  the  dome 
of  the  heavens  dissolve  than  the  religion  of  his  fathers 
pass  away.  But  the  light  which  he  saw  above  the  hills 
is  traveling  upwai-d.  It  is  a  solemn  time.  The  words 
of  his  friend  wake  strange  echoes  in  the  dimly-lighted 
chambers  of  his  soul,  and  will  not  be  stilled.  By  and 
by  the  earth  appears  to  move,  and  then  to  sink  beneath 
his  feet.  He  begins  to  wake  as  if  from  a  horrid  dream. 
Things  are  not  what  they  seem.  Like  the  monk  of 
Erfurt,  he  retires  to  his  chamber.  The  Holy  Spirit 
convinces  him  of  sin.  He  is  alarmed  as  he  looks  at 
himself  in  the  light  of  God's  holiness  and  trembles  with 
apprehensions  of  eternity.  He  knows  his  relations  to 
God  are  wrong ;  that  he  is  the  servant  of  sin ;  that  he 
has  no  spiritual  acquaintance  with  Christ ;  that  he  is 
unprepared  for  li.fe  and  unfit  for  death.  His  spiritual^ 
guides — blind  leaders,  all  of  them — bade  him  submit  to 
the  teachings  of  the  Church  and  go  on  as  he  had  begun. 
If  his  sins  troubled  him,  he  had  but  to  confess  to  a 
priest  and  receive  absolution.  If  the  load  returned  and 
was  heavier  than  before,  then  there  was  another  resort 
which  would  not  fail  him — penances,  fastings  and  pro- 
longed prayer  to  the  saints.  He  obeyed.  His  faith  in 
the  Church  had  been  strong.  His  connection  could  not 
be  readily  destroyed.  His  religion  was  not  like  a  gar- 
ment which  is  put  on  and  thrown  off  at  pleasure.  Like 
a  tree  which  is  not  torn  from  the  earth  except  by  a  re- 
sistless storm,  with  roots  lacerated  and  bleeding,  so  Cal- 
vin could  be  removed  from  the  old  faith  in  which  he  had 
been  firmly  grounded  only  by  a  power  which  was  might- 
ier than  man's  ;  and  even  that  he  would  resist  until  every 
former  connection  was  destroyed  and  a  religion  more  in 


262  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

harmony  with  the  word  of  God  and  human  need  was  dis- 
covered. Weeks  went  on — weeks  of  anxious  inquiry 
after  the  truth.  Calvin  is  walking  thoughtfully  along 
a  street  in  Paris.  He  is  approaching  the  great  cathedral 
of  Notre  Dame,  when  he  observes  a  vast  assemblage  of 
people  jostling  each  other  in  the  wide  court  before  him. 
A  noted  priest  has  been  charged  with  heresy.  False  to 
the  Church,  he  must  die.  There  is  a  rope  about  his 
neck  and  men  are  leading  him  to  the  place  of  execution. 
They  bind  him  to  the  stake,  and  this  man,  who  had  been 
received  to  the  confidence  of  kings  and  had  done  service 
for  the  Church  of  Rome,  because  he  will  not  bow^  the 
knee  to  Mary  and  worship  the  Host,  is  burned  alive. 
The  glare  of  that  fire  shone  on  Calvin's  face,  and  that 
day  Rome  unwittingly  cast  the  hangman's  rope  around 
the  neck  of  her  own  superstition.  All  thought  of  being 
a  priest  is  now  dismissed.  He  had  received  the  tonsure 
and  had  been  appointed  chaplain  of  the  cathedral  of 
Noyon  at  the  early  age  of  twelve,  but  the  father,  through 
whose  influence  these  churchly  distinctions  had  been  con- 
ferred, now  consents  to  his  son's  prosecuting  the  study 
of  the  law,  and  Calvin  goes  to  Orleans,  where  he  be- 
comes the  student  of  Pierre  I'Etoile,  the  most  distin- 
guished jurist  of  France.  The  genius  of  the  pupil  coukl 
not  escape  the  notice  of  the  discerning  L'Etoile.  The 
latter  loved  the  youth  with  almost  a  womanly  tendei'- 
ness,  and,  great  as  he  was  himself,  felt  honored  in  hav- 
ing for  his  student  a  young  man  who,  he  thought,  might 
yet  be  one  of  the  leading  scholars  and  jurists  of  the  age. 
At  Orleans,  Calvin  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Mel- 
chior  Wolmar,  a  teacher  of  Greek,  whose  influence  over 
him  was  marked  and  lasting.     Under  the  instructions 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCE,  263 

of  Wolmar,  Calvin  became  master  of  the  language 
in  which  the  New  Testament  was  written,  and  so  was 
being  prepared  to  become  the  most  distinguished  com- 
mentator of  the  Scriptures  in  that  or  any  succeeding 
century.  Here  observe  the  wisdom  of  divine  Providence. 
At  Orleans,  with  Pierre  FEtoile  to  instruct  him  in  the 
principles  of  the  law  and  Wolmar  in  the  greater  truths 
of  revelation  and  experience,  Calvin  is  being  educated  for 
a  position  of  usefulness  and  power  in  which,  as  a  civil 
magistrate  and  a  teacher  of  theology,  he  helped  on  the 
Reformation  to  that  glorious  triumph  which  was  ever 
after  the  joy  of  the  Church  and  the  wonder  of  the  world. 
Without  Calvin  the  gospel  might  not  have  crossed  the 
Rhine  or  the  Reformation  might  have  languished  in  the 
land  of  its  birth.  But  God  raised  him  up  to  execute 
his  own  purposes  of  grace,  and  led  him,  step  by  step, 
along  what  at  first  seemed  a  tortuous  path,  but  was,  in 
fact,  the  only  possible  way  by  which  he  could  have  been 
fitted  for  that  work  which  opened  all  the  avenues  of  the 
world  to  the  onward  march  of  the  truth.  At  Orleans 
the  highest  honors  were  conferred  on  the  young  Calvin, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-two — the  same  at  which  Martin 
Luther  was  made  doctor  of  philosophy — he  was  pro- 
nounced the  most  learned  man  in  Europe,  and,  a  little 
later,  "of  Rome,  in  its  decline,  the  greatest  dread.^^ 
Here  he  grew  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ.  The  mists 
of  'error  which  had  hung  over  him  were  passing  away. 
The  Sun  of  righteousness  shone  with  increased  power, 
and  he  rejoiced  in  God  his  Saviour  with  exceeding  joy. 
He  referred  his  salvation  to  sovereign  grace.  He  felt 
that  he  deserved  nothing,  for  he  had  nothing.  Christ 
was  his  all  in  all.       "  I  have  not  merited  thee  by  my 

18 


264  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

love,  O  Christ,"  he  said ;  "  thou  hast  loved  me  of  thy 
free  will.  I  come  to  thee  naked  and  empty,  and  I  find 
everything  here."  And  kneeling  by  the  cross,  on  his 
head  the  droppings  of  the  Saviour's  blood,  he  conse- 
crated himself  and  his  all  to  Christ. 

Calvin's  stay  at  Orleans  was  suddenly  terminated  by 
the  dangerous  illness  of  his  father.  He  spent  a  season 
under  the  roof  of  his  childhood,  and  after  the  partial 
recovery  of  his  father  went  to  Bourges.  Here  he  again 
met  Wolmar,  the  Greek  professor,  who  supplied  him 
with  the  writings  of  Luther,  Melanchthon  and  other 
German  Reformers,  and  subsequently  urged  him  to  be- 
come himself  a  preacher  of  the  resurrected  faith.  Cal- 
vin doubted  his  fitness  for  such  a  work.  Who  is  suf- 
ficient for  these  things?  But  he  became  a  teacher  with- 
out designing  it.  Groups  of  friends  clustered  about  him 
and  listened  with  delight  to  his  exposition  of  the  Script- 
ures. Then  he  was  induced  to  visit  the  neighboring 
towns  and  villages,  and  he  roused  the  indignation  of  the 
priests  by  his  bold  denunciation  of  the  errors  of  the 
Church.  He  was  sowing  the  seed  from  which  sprang 
the  three  thousand  Reformed  churches  of  France  in  his 
own  day. 

Whilst  thus  engaged  there  came  a  message  from 
Noyon  announcing  his  father's  death.  He  left  Bourges 
with  much  sorrow,  and  his  sudden  departure  cast  a 
gloom  over  the  little  groups  of  Christians  to  whom'  he 
had  preached  "  none  but  Christ."  All  the  incidents  of 
his  life  which  we  shall  relate  had  an  important  bearing 
on  his  relations  to  his  subsequent  career  of  usefulness. 
Returning  homeward,  he  passed  through  Paris.  Again 
the  fires  of  persecution  were  raging.     Berquin,  a  learned 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCE.  265 

Qoble,  had  been  charged  with  heresy  and  cast  into  prison. 
The  day  of  his  trial  is  come.  His  heresy  is  proved. 
The  sentence  passed  upon  him  is  humiliating,  but 
bravely  borne ;  thus  it  runs  :  "  You  shall  be  led  to  the 
front  of  the  church  of  Notre  Dame,  where  you  shall  do 
penance  to  God  and  the  glorious  Virgin  his  Mother. 
Afterward  you  shall  have  your  tongue  pierced,  that 
instrument  of  unrighteousness  by  which  you  have  so 
grievously  sinned.  Lastly,  you  shall  be  taken  to  the 
prison  of  Monsieur  de  Paris  [the  bishop]  and  be  shut 
up  there  all  your  life  between  four  walls  of  stone,  and 
we  forbid  you  to  be  supplied  either  with  books  to  read 
or  pen  and  ink  to  write."  The  queen  of  Navarre  had 
interceded  for  him,  but  in  vain.  It  was  evident  that 
Rome  intended  uothins:  less  than  his  death.  A  little 
later  armed  men  entered  his  cell.  He  knew  their 
errand  ;  he  was  ready  to  suffer  for  Christ ;  he  walked 
forth  with  a  firm  step  and  an  unfaltering  fliitli   which 

■  took  hold  on  heaven.  Arrived  at  the  place  of  execution, 
a  rope  was  cast  about  his  neck,  and  when  strangled  they 
cast  his  dead  body  into  the  flames.  The  queen  of 
Navarre  wept;  Christians  who  had  tlirowu  off  the 
chain  of  a  corrupt  religion  realized  their  danger,  but 
said,  "  We  are  ready  to  die.  We  set  our  eyes  on  the 
life  to  come."  Beyond  the  smoke  of  the  burning 
fagots  they  saw  a  kingdom  of  righteousness  and  peace, 
and  were  anxious  to  enter  it,  even  though  the  way  led 
through  a  girdle  of  fire.  Rome  thought  by  persecution 
to  throw  an  invincible  barrier  across  the  path  of  the 
Reformation.  But  from  the  ashes  of  each  martyr  there 
sprung  up  a  host  of  Christians,  full  armed  and  ready 
for  the  fight.     The  Lord  of  battles  was  gathering   his 


2C)6  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

forces.  His  enemies  may  have  seemed  to  triumph, 
but  afterward  they  were  either  converted  to  the  truth 
or  made  to  lick  the  dust. 

Calvin  went  forth  from  the  capital  more  fully  resolved 
than  ever  before  to  defend  the  principles  for  which  noble 
saints  had  dared  to  die.  He  spent  a  few  months  at 
Noyon,  visited  his  father's  grave,  walked  thoughtfully 
along  the  well-worn  paths  of  early  years,  went,  in  sad- 
ness relieved  by  hope,  to  the  old  cathedral  where  the 
Virgin  Mary  obscured  her  Son ;  then  returned  to  Paris. 

Now  there  arise  questions  of  duty  which  must  be 
prayerfully  met.  What  is  to  be  the  work  of  his  life? 
The  way  does  not  seem  clear.  There  is  a  cloud  upon 
it,  and  he  can  take  only  one  step  at  a  time.  But  he  at 
length  determines  to  enter  upon  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist. He  preached  Christ  whenever  and  wherever  an 
opportunity  offered — now  in  the  house  of  some  noble 
Parisian,  then  to  a  little  group  in  the  gardens,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Seine  or  under  the  shadow  of  the  college 
walls.  The  people  said  of  the  gospel,  "  It  is  always  a  fire, 
but  when  Calvin  explains  it  the  fire  shines  with  unusual 
brilliancy."  Still,  comparatively  few  knew  the  retiring 
youth.  He  walked  the  streets  with  bowed  head,  in 
though tfulness  passing  quietly  and  unobserved.  The 
carriages  of  the  nobility  as  they  rolled  by  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  loungers  at  the  caf^s  or  in  the  gardens 
of  the  Palais  Royal.  Some  great  pageant  swept  down 
the  boulevards  and  the  onlookers  huzzahed.  But  who 
knew  John  Calvin?  Who  cared  for  him?  Yet  a 
greater  than  Francis  I.  is  he.  There  goes  the  man 
who  shall  yet  stir  all  Europe  with  his  eloquence — who 
shall  enkindle  in  beautiful  France  and  in  the   valleys 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCE.  267 

overshadowed  by  the  Alps  a  light  that  shall  enlighten 
the  world — who  shall  lift  the  cross  of  Christ  higher  than 
the  dome  of  St.  Peter's  or  of  Notre  Dame,  that  the  sin- 
burdened  may  see  it.  His  name  shall  live  until  the  end 
of  time. 

In  his  preaching  Calvin  gave  much  prominence  to  the 
justice  of  God,  whilst  he  did  not  fail  to  emphasize  the 
divine  love.  God  was  recognized  as  the  moral  Ruler  as 
well  as  a  tender  Father.  The  guilt  of  sin  exceeds  human 
comprehension.  The  jierfectious  of  God  and  the  integ- 
rity of  the  divine  government  require  its  punishment. 
At  the  same  time,  the  death  of  Christ  satisfies  the  broken 
law,  is  sufficient  for  the  chief  of  sinners  and  avails 
for  all  who  believe. 

The  exercise  of  grace  was  sovereign.  His  doctrine 
of  predestination  seemed  to  conflict  with  free  agency,  but 
the  two  were  as  reconcilable  in  his  judgment  as  are 
the  two  natures  in  the  per.^^on  of  Christ.  He  cut  at  the 
roots  of  self-righteousness,  self-reliance  and  natural 
ability,  and  made  salvation  dependent  upon  the  sovereign 
and  abundant  mercy  of  God  exercised  through  Christ 
his  only  Son.  There  was  a  strength  and  a  restfulness  in 
his  theological  system  which  Pelagianism  never  knew. 
The  eternal  throne  was  surrounded  with  a  moral  glory 
which  men  could  not  have  borne  had  not  God  spread  his 
cloud  upon  it  and  suffered  his  divine  clemency  to  shine 
through.  There  is  power  in  great  ideas.  They  mould 
character  and  life.  Hence  Calvinists  in  every  age  have 
been  the  strong,  potential  men  in  Church  and  State — 
men  of  moral  stamina,  brave  defenders  of  the  truth, 
leaders  in  every  true  reform,  holding  communion  with 
Him  who  is  invisible,   their   works  wrought  under  his 


268  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

iiispioction  aud  in  the  strength  wliich  comes  from  above. 
They  were  the  men  who  planted  the  Church  on  the  Brit- 
ish Isles,  who  suffered  for  righteousness'  sake  at  Smith- 
field  and  on  the  Oxford  common  and  in  the  hill-country 
of  Scotland ;  the  men  who  came  to  the  wilds  of  America 
that  they  might  receive  from  God  the  pattern  of  the 
tabernacle ;  who  laid  the  foundations  of  civil  aud  relig- 
ious freedom  in  the  New  World,  and  with  faces  turned 
toward  heaven,  fearing  nothing  so  much  as  sin,  seeking 
grace  and  guidance  and  power  from  above,  passed  quiet- 
ly and  trustfully  westward,  filling  the  solitudes  with 
villages,  turning  the  wilderness  into  fruitful  fields,  es- 
tablishing churches,  schools  and  beneficent  government, 
and  advancing  every  interest  which  enriches  life  in  both 
worlds.  This  is  said  to  the  glory  of  God,  who  employs 
human  agencies,  and  ofttimes  the  humblest,  to  consummate 
his  holy  purpose.  In  view  of  this  it  has  well  been  re- 
marked that  "  to  have  been  the  spiritual  father  of  the 
Puritans  for  three  hundred  years  is  itself  evidence  of 
moral  and  intellectual  excellence,  and  will  link  the  name 
of  Calvin  with  some  of  the  greatest  movements  that 
have  marked  our  modern  civilization." 

Recognizing  Calvin's  power,  efforts  were  made  at  an 
early  period  to  detain  him  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  His 
friends  would  make  him  vicar-general  with  episcopal 
power.  That  position  might  be  only  the  first  round  in 
the  ladder  up  which  he  might  go  to  the  highest  office 
the  hierarchy  knew.  What  a  field  in  which  to  exercise 
his  genius,  to  command  the  reverence  of  men,  to  gratify 
a  natural  love  of  power !  Will  he  be  ensnared  by  such 
a  bait?  No.  The  Vatican  and  St.  Peter's  have  no 
attractions  for  him.     A  nobler  destiny  is  possible  than 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCE.  269 

that  the  pontificate  offers.  He  has  covcnauted  to  live 
for  Christ,  to  declare  the  truth,  to  seek  the  deliverance 
of  the  bound.  His  mission  lies  outside  the  pale  of  the 
Romish  Church.  Reformation  within  it  is  impossible. 
It  is  God^s  purpose  that  he  shall  ally  himself  with  the 
little  band  of  Christians  hidden  in  the  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont who  have  never  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  holding 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  waiting  there  for  one  anointed 
of  the  Lord  who  shall  lead  them  forth  into  broader  fields 
and  on  to  more  glorious  triumphs. 

Soon,  in  disguise,  moving  cautiously  along  unfrequent- 
ed streets,  Calvin  makes  his  way  out  of  Paris,  an  exile 
from  the  city  he  has  loved,  in  which  he  had  hoped  to 
labor  undisturbed  and  long.  He  traveled  many  weary, 
anxious  leagues  until  he  came  to  the  venerable  city  of 
Angouleme.  Here  lived  his  friend  Louis  du  Fillet, 
canon  of  the  cathedral,  who  occupied  the  ancestral  man- 
sion and  inherited  a  library  which  was  one  of  the  most 
valuable  in  France.  Calvin  received  a  cordial  welcome 
from  his  friend.  In  the  hospitable  mansion,  near  the 
cathedral,  overlooking  the  valley  through  which  flowed 
the  Charente,  he  found  a  quiet  retreat.  The  cries  of 
martyrs  had  died  away  when  the  spires  of  Paris  faded 
from  his  sight.  Here  in  the  great  library  he  was  happy. 
His  mind  could  feed  on  the  treasures  of  the  ages  and 
commune  with  the  great  whose  works  outlived  them- 
selves. There  were  nights  that  he  refused  sleep.  Por- 
ing over  musty  tomes,  the  light  of  his  lone  lamp  shone 
out  into  the  darkness,  burning  on  until  the  returning 
sun  gilded  the  cathedral  dome.  Then  a  hasty  meal  and 
back  again  to  his  books,  digging  as  for  hid  treasure, 
resting  not  until  the  object  of  his  search  was  found. 


270  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Again,  we  find  him  discoiirsiug  to  a  group  of  intellect- 
ual meu  on  the  great  themes  of  the  gospel.  They  pro- 
nounce him  an  incomparable  preacher ;  "  none  can 
equal  him/'  they  say,  "  in  loftiness  of  language,  concise- 
ness of  arrangement  and  majesty  of  style.''  It  was 
observed  that  he  did  not  simply  unfold  some  particular 
doctrine  of  the  gospel  in  a  fullness  before  unknown,  but 
that  his  comprehensive  and  logical  mind  swept  a  wide 
circuit  of  truth  and  arranged  its  parts  in  their  mutual 
relations  and  dependences,  so  forming  a  complete  system 
of  faith  and  a  divine  unity.  Dignitaries  of  the  Church 
became  his  disciples,  and  as  he  discoursed  to  them  in 
Latin,  the  language  of  the  Church,  they  were  drawn 
into  closer  sympathy  with  the  preacher  and  his  faith. 
The  more  rigid  Romanists  beo;an  to  be  alarmed.  The 
man  who  could  wield  a  power  so  irresistible,  even  over 
those  who  had  sworn  fealty  to  the  Roman  See,  was  a 
dangerous  teacher.  France  had  reason  to  dread  his 
presence  more  than  that  of  the  Saracens  or  the  house  of 
Austria  who  had  once  and  again  thundered  at  her  gates. 

From  Angouleme,  Calvin  went  to  Nerac,  where  he 
met  Le  Fevre,  a  man  of  weak  presence,  but  of  strong 
intellect,  great  learning  and  unswerving  devotion  to  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  in  the  advocacy  of 
which  he  had  anticipated  the  Reformer  of  Germany. 
Calvin  regarded  the  old  man  with  a  deep  and  affectionate 
interest,  but  went  in  advance  of  him  in  his  idea  of  Re- 
form. He  insisted  that  the  truth  and  vital  godliness 
demanded  separation  from  the  Church.  He  would  pull 
down  the  cathedrals  of  a  corrupt  religion  and  erect  a  bet- 
ter sanctuary,  from  which  should  be  for  ever  ex(;luded  all 
the  errors  in  doctrine  and  in  i)ractice  that  had  emascula- 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCfJ.  '2 VI 

ted  the  Church  of  his  fathers.  Le  Fevre  surveyed  the 
youth  with  a  look  of  miugled  surprise  and  liope,  saying, 
"  Young  man,  you  will  one  day  be  a  powerful  instru- 
ment in  the  Lord's  hand.  The  world  will  obstinately 
resist  Jesus  Christ ;  but  stand  firm  on  thai  Rock,  and 
many  will  be  broken  by  it.  God  will  make  use  of  you 
to  restore  the  kingdom  of  heaven  in  France.''  It  was  a 
touching  sight — the  aged  Le  Fevre  gathering  the  dra- 
pery of  the  night  about  him,  soon  to  lie  down  in  death  ; 
the  young  Calvin  girding  on  his  armor  and  stepping  out 
into  the  arena  of  religious  strife  to  do  battle  for  Christ 
and  his  truth.  They  parted  in  tears,  and  met  no  more 
until  they  clasped  hands  in  heaven. 

Subsequently,  joined  by  Du  Fillet,  the  young  canon 
of  Angouleme,  our  Reformer  went  to  Poictiers,  where 
some  of  the  noblest  men  of  the  realm  gathered  about 
him  and  conversed  Avith  him  touching  the  questions 
which  were  agitating  the  Cliurch.  He  boldly  denounced 
the  blasphemous  dogma  of  transubstantiation,  and  ex- 
alted spiritual  fellowship  with  Christ.  At  the  same  time 
he  so  magnified  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  to 
receive  the  designation  of  "  the  sacramentarian."  "  Lu- 
ther saw  the  truth,"  he  said,  '^  but  he  is  like  those  who 
are  walking  through  a  long  and  winding  road :  they 
perceive  afar  the  dim  glimmer  of  a  lamp,  by  means  of 
which  they  can  grope  their  way  along  the  path  they  must 
follow.  Zwingle  approached  the  light,  but,  like  those 
who  rush  too  hastily  to  good,  he  went  beyond  it."  Re- 
jecting the  doctrine  of  Rome,  that  the  wafer  of  the 
sacrament  is  transmuted  into  ihQ  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  and  repudiating  Luther's  theory  of  consubstan- 
tiation,    which    he   could    not   comprehend,    but    which 


272  EOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

seemed  to  savor  of  a  real  corporeal  presence,  he  avoided 
the  other  extreme  of  Zwingle,  which  made  the  Supper 
a  mere  memorial  of  Christ's  death,  and  took  from  it 
much  of  its  sweetness  and  power;  maintaining  the  view 
wliich  now  obtains  in  nearly  all  branches  of  the  Re- 
formed Church,  and  is  thus  expressed  in  the  "Westmin- 
ster Confession  of  Faith :  "  They  that  worthily  com- 
municate in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  do 
therein  feed  upon  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  not 
after  a  corporal  or  carnal,  but  in  a  spiritual  manner ;  yet 
truly  and  really,  while  by  faith  they  receive  and  apply 
unto  themselves  Christ  crucified  and  all  the  benefits  of 
his  death." 

About  this  time  certain  questions  were  raised  as  to  the 
relations  of  science  and  the  Church.  The  papacy  had 
set  its  heel  on  popular  learning.  The  Reformation 
favored  learning  ;  it  clasped  hands  with  science.  It  said 
to  the  latter,  ^'  Study  God  in  his  works  whilst  we  seek 
him  in  his  word.  Nature  and  revelation  are  in  accord 
and  mutually  helpful.  Piety  will  help  the  scientist 
in  his  search  for  truth,  and  the  discoveries  he  makes 
in  the  realm  of  nature,  in  the  earth  and  in  the  skies 
shall  enlarge  the  Christian's  conception  of  the  infinite 
Creator."  From  that  day  to  this  the  Protestant  religion 
has  been  the  friend  of  science,  opposing  it  only  when 
it  has  trampled  on  the  word  of  God,  readily  accepting 
its  principles  and  facts  when  they  have  been  in  harmo- 
ny with  revelation.  Although  these  may  have  involved 
the  sacrifice  of  traditional  faith,  they  have  never  milita- 
ted against  the  great  essentials  of  the  Christian  system. 
They  never  can.  The  same  God,  and  only  God,  who  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  earth,  who  throirgh  the  operation 


X 


CALVIN  IN  FRANCE.  273 

of  his  owu  laws  arranged  the  strata  of  the  solid  globe 
from  the  granite  rock  up  to  the  friiit-bearlng  alluvial, 
and  set  the  lights  in  heaven  to  rule  the  day  and  the 
night,  bringing  forth  Mazzaroth  in  his  season  and  guid- 
ing Arcturus  with  his  sons,  wrote  each  page  of  this  rev- 
elation through  the  agency  of  inspired  men ;  and  it  is 
evident  that  he  can  never  contradict  himself  A  person- 
al God,  Creator  and  Preserver  of  all  things ;  a  divine 
Saviour,  arrayed  in  the  robe  of  human  flesh ;  salvation 
for  all  who  will  believe  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross ;  the 
Bible  a  revelation  of  God  clearer  than  that  of  nature, 
yet  in  harmony  with  it ;  a  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments, — these  great  principles  of  the  Christian 
system  shall  stand  more  immovable  than  Gibraltar  and 
more  enduring  than  the  stars,  bearing  us  up  in  our  go- 
ings and  girding  our  way  to  a  better  future. 

Calvin,  accompanied  by  Du  Fillet,  traveled  through^ 
the  beautiful  yet  benighted  France,  kindling  here  and 
there  a  light  w^hich  burned  on  when  he  passed  to  regions 
beyond.  He  encountered  spiritualists  and  pantheists, 
with  whom  he  measured  swords,  vanquishing  them 
with  the  truth,  preaching  Christ,  proclaiming  him  the 
Light  of  the  world  and  the  only  blessedness  of  man. 

Again  for  a  little  season  in  Paris,  he  met  for  the  first 
time,  Michael  Servetus,  a  young  man  of  his  own  age, 
whose  wide  learning,  and  especially  his  acquaintance 
with  natural  science,  had  made  him  a  name  among  the 
scholars  of  that  day.  Servetus  denied  the  Trinity  and 
mocked  at  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith.  Calvin 
reasoned  with  him.  "  He  sought,"  as  he  expressed  it, 
'Uo  bring  to  the  Spaniard  such  sentiments  that  all  pious 
men  might  take  him  affectionately  by  the  hand."     They 


274  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

arranged  for  a  private  conference,  but  Servetas  failed  to 
appear.  Years  went  on ;  they  met  in  a  trying  period  of 
the  Reformation  in  the  city  beside  Lake  Leman,  and 
their  names  are  associated  in  the  annals  of  that  greatest 
revolution  that  ever  shook  the  earth  and  sent  its  rever- 
berating echoes  through  the  heavens. 

The  fires  of  persecution  were  rekindled  in  Paris. 
Calvin  and  Du  Fillet  determined  to  seek  an  asylum  in 
Germany.  They  secured  a  small  sum  of  money,  suffi- 
cient to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  journey,  and  after  a 
series  of  painful  experiences  arrived  at  Strassburg, 
strangers  in  the  capital  city  of  Alsace,  gazing  with  won- 
der on  the  great  cathedral  which  towered  into  the  sky 
and  threw  its  deep  shadow  across  their  path.  Their 
thoughts  went  to  France.  A  feeling  of  homesickness 
came  over  them,  and  yet  they  breathed  more  freely  in 
the  air  which  carried  in  it  sweet  whispers  of  the  gospel 
— the  first  breathings  of  the  great  choral  anthem  which 
should  souud  down  the  valleys  of  the  Rhine  and  the 
Rhone  and  ascend  the  Alps  on  its  way  to  meet  the  songs 
of  angels  as  they  announced  the  breaking  over  Europe 
of  the  Reformation  day. 

Here  our  narrative  must  close  for  the  present.  We 
have  seen  the  young  man  of  JSToyou  advancing  step  by 
step  from  the  darkness  into  the  light.  We  have  noticed 
the  strange  yet  wise  providences  of  God  by  which  he 
was  being  prepared  for  his  work.  "A  man's  heart  de-j 
viseth  his  way,  but  the  Lord  directeth  his  steps.''  The 
lawyer  of  Orleans  is  to  be  the  theologian  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  chaplain  of  the  Noyon  cathedral, 
wlio  might  have  climbed  into  St.  Peter's  chair,  is  to  be 
one  of  God's  most  honored  instruments  in  the  restora- 


CALVIN  IN  FBANQE.  .         27.5 

lion  of  the  apostolic  faith.  He  shall  carry  on  the  work 
Luther  began.  He  shall  lay  stone  upon  stone  and  rear 
the  dome  of  the  temple  of  truth,  which  shall  remain 
until  time  shall  end. 

The  faithfulness  of  a  covenant-keeping  God  is  seen  in 
all  this.  He  will  preserve  his  Church  and  perpetuate 
the  truth.  Out  of  the  darkness  shall  come  a  great  light. 
The  little  flock  hidden  for  ages  among  the  valleys  of 
Northern  Italy  and  concealed  in  the  caves  of  Central 
Europe  shall  come  forth  from  its  seclusion  at  God's  ap- 
pointed time  to  claim  and  to  possess  the  earth  for  Christ, 
and  transfer  the  crown  from  the  head  of  the  apostate 
Leo  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  whose  right  it  is  to  reign. 


CALVIN  IN  mn^. 


"  Wherefore  come  ye  out  from  among  theju,  and  be  ye  separ- 
ate, saith  the  Lord,  and  touch  not  the  imclean  thing,  and  I  will 
receive  y  021. '^ 

2  Cor.  6  :  17. 

''Religious  worship  is  to  be  give?i  to  God,  the  Father.  So?i, 
and  Holy  Ghost;  aiid  to  him  alone;  not  to  angels,  saints,  or 
a?iy  other  creature :  a?id  since  the  fall,  7iot  witho7it  a  mediator  ; 
7ior  in  the  mediation  of  a?iy  other  but  of  Christ  alo?iey 

Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  xxi.  sec.  ii. 


i 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA. 


WE  are  to  coDtinue  our  sketch  of  the  life-work  of 
John  Calvin.  We  parted  with  him  at  Strassburg, 
There,  a  fugitive  from  persecution,  attended  by  his  friend 
Du  Fillet,  the  pious  canon  of  Angouleme,  he  thought  to 
prepare  himself  more  fully  for  the  work  of  an  evan- 
gelist. 

He  is  still  a  young  man,  twenty-five  years  of  age,  an 
intellectual  prodigy.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  toiled 
upward  to  this  distinction  by  the  slow  stages  through 
which  most  men  attain  intellectual  eminence  and  power, 
but  to  have  gone  thither  by  a  single  stride.  The  sun 
was  in  the  zenith  even  before  men  looked  for  the  dawn. 
In  him  was  realized  the  old  dream  of  mythology  con- 
cerning Minerva — his  greatness  a  creation  rather  than 
a  growth.  Yet  this  is  only  a  partial  truth.  Born  a 
genius,  he  was  one  of  the  severest  students  that  any  age 
has  produced.  His  power  of  will  carried  him  on  througli 
all  difficulties  and  over  all  obstacles. 

If  he  turned  his  back  on  France  and  souglit  seclusion, 
it  was  only  because  he  hoped  to  live  and  do  great  things 
for  God.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  feared  death.  He 
would  have  gone  calmly  to  the  stake  if  the  Lord  had  so 
appointed.       But  he  believed  he  was  called  to  a  pro- 

19  279 


280  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

tracted  strife,  not  to  early  martyrdom  ;  and  he  put  on 
his  coat  of  mail,  burnished  his  armor  and  made  ready 
for  the  fight. 

There  is  a  portrait  of  the  Reformer,  traditionally  cor- 
rect, which  is  kept  in  a  church  on  the  Khine.  It  repre- 
sents him  as  a  young  man  and  with  a  comely  visage. 
He  was  of  small  stature ;  his  face  was  pale  and  thin,  its 
expression  intellectual  and  pensive;  his  forehead  was 
lofty,  his  nose  prominent,  his  mouth  well  formed,  and 
his  eyes  were  the  windows  of  far-reaching  thought, 
seemingly  fixed  on  objects  beyond  the  range  of  ordinary 
vision. 

Calvin's  family-symbol  was  a  hand  presenting  to  God 
the  sac  of  a  bleeding  heart,  and  his  appropriate  motto, 
^'  Shall  a  dog  bark  when  his  master  is  attacked,  and  shall 
I  be  silent  when  God's  truth  is  impugned?" 

The  young  evangelist  did  not  remain  long  in  Strass- 
burg.  He  would  gladly  have  lingered  with  Bucer, 
whom  he  loved,  but  he  could  not  find,  even  there,  the 
quiet  and  opportunities  for  study  he  desired,  and  he  de- 
termined to  seek  a  residence  in  Basle.  In  his  journey 
southward  he  met  at  Friburg  the  far-famed  Erasmus,  a 
man  who,  had  he  possessed  the  moral  courage  of  either 
Luther  or  Calvin,  might  have  been  the  leader  in  the 
great  Reformation,  of  which,  it  was  said,  "  he  laid  the 
egg/'  The  young  Frenchman  had  greatly  desired  an 
interview  with  Erasmus,  and,  hoping  to  learn  something 
from  the  great  scholar  and  profound  thinker,  he  Inter- 
rogated him  as  to  his  opinion  on  some  of  the  questions 
which  were  agitating  the  Church.  Erasmus  was  cau- 
tious in  his  answers,  and  was  startled  by  the  radical 
sentiments  of  the  young  man.     He  predicted  trouble  as 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  281 

the  result  of  Calvin's  extravagances,  as  he  regarded  them, 
and  a  manifest  disposition  at  any  and  all  hazards  not 
only  to  stand  by  the  principles  of  the  Reformation  as 
announced  by  Luther,  but  to  go  beyond,  demanding  an 
entire  separation  from  a  Church  which  he  claimed  was 
a  putrid  corpse  ready  for  its  burial.  The  old  man  felt 
relieved  when  the  audacious  youth  departed.  As  for 
himself,  his  race  was  wellnigh  run.  He  would  end  his 
days  in  peace,  and  leave  the  conflict  for  those  of  stronger 
convictions  and  greater  daring. 

Having  arrived  in  Basle,  the  two  travelers  found  for 
a  time  the  seclusion  they  desired.  In  a  dimly-lighted 
chamber,  away  from  the  noisy  thoroughfares  of  the  city, 
to  which  there  came  from  time  to  time  reports  of  the 
massacre  of  holy  men  in  his  beloved  Paris,  Calvin  pre- 
pared a  work  which  has  ever  since  been  recognized  as 
the  greatest  theological  production  of  the  Reformation 
or  any  subsequent  age.  This  young  man,  perhaps  only 
twenty -six  years  of  age,  stands  before  the  Christian 
world  the  peer  of  Augustine  and  a  greater  than  Tertul- 
lian,  holding  up  The  Institutes  as  his  exposition  and  de- 
fence of  that  truth  for  which  men  were  ready  to  die  in 
dungeons  or  burn  at  the  stake.  While  writing  this 
master-work  he  spent  whole  nights  without  sleep  and 
entire  days  without  food.  The  dedication  of  tliis  work 
to  Francis  I.,  king  of  France,  was  itself  sufficient  to 
make  its  author  illustrious. 

The  greatest  thinkers  who  have  studied  The  Institutes 
have  expressed  their  admiration  of  "  the  amazing  acute- 
ness  and  grasp  of  the  author's  mind,  the  classic  vigor 
and  elegance  of  his  style,  the  learning  with  wliich  his 
views  are  supported,  the  thorough  understanding  of  the 


282  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Christian  system  which  it  displays,  and  the  high  degree 
of  holiness  manifestly  attained  by  the  author.''  This 
production  at  once  broke  for  thousands  the  fetters  that 
bound  them  to  Rome.  It  was  a  sun  lifted  far  above  the 
Jura  Mountains,  near  which  it  was  born,  shining  on 
lands  far  remote,  revealing  the  way  to  God.  It  is  found 
to-day  in  all  the  great  libraries  of  the  world,  in  the 
studies  of  Christian  pastors  in  all  Christendom,  and,  as 
a  great  teaclier  at  Edinburgh  well  remarked,  "  Calvin's 
Institutes  form  a  standard  on  which  men  still  fall  back 
whenever  an  earnest  belief  and  an  intelligent  Christianity 
sway  the  heart  and  life." 

Space  will  not  permit  an  extended  syllabus  of  this 
great  work.  \Ye  believe  its  statements  to  be  in  harmony 
with  the  word  of  God.  His  familiarity  with  the  orig- 
inal language  of  the  New  Testament,  his  clear  discern- 
ment and  far-reaching  logic  by  which  he  was  enabled  to 
see  w^hat  was  hidden  from  common  minds  and  to  set  in 
order  the  various  parts  of  the  Christian  system,  and 
that  indomitable  perseverance  which  carried  him  through 
protracted  investigations  of  truth,  together  with  his  earn- 
est piety,  which  led  him  in  the  spirit  of  childlike  docility 
and  profound  reverence  to  the  feet  of  the  great  Teacher, 
— all  these  qualifications  eminently  fitted  Calvin  for 
bringing  the  truth  to  light  and  formulating  the  faitli 
of  the  Reformed  Church. 

Martin  Luther  held,  in  the  main,  the  same  theological 
views  taught  by  Calvin.  These  two  Reformers  differed 
chiefly  with  regard  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. It  is  not  generally  understood  that  they  were  in 
so  full  accord.  Lutheran  ism  set  forth  by  Luther  was 
Calviuisu).      Justification   by   faith    was   made  by  both 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  283 

the  corner-stone  of  the  Christian  system,  "  the  doctrine 
of  a  falling  or  rising  Church." 

Calvinism  taught,  and  still  maintains,  that  man  was 
created  holy  and  happy,  yet  mutable.  God  gave  him 
the  power  to  obey,  then  left  him  to  the  freedom  of  his 
own  will.  Obedience  through  a  brief  term  of  probation 
would  have  secured  to  himself  and  all  his  posterity  es- 
tablishment in  holiness  and  everlastino^  life.  Man  fell 
from  the  estate  wherein  he  was  created  by  sinning 
against  God,  and,  being  the  representative  of  all  who 
were  to  descend  from  him  by  ordinary  generation,  all 
mankind  sinned  in  him  and  fell  with  him  in  his  first 
transgression.  Referring  to  this,  Calvin  thus  addressed 
the  self-righteous  sinner :  "  Come  down,  now,  and  con- 
sider thyself.  Learn  and  know"  this  sin  derived  from 
Adam  and  dwelling  in  us  like  a  glowing  furnace  per- 
petually throwing  out  flames  and  sjmrks,  and  the  fire  of 
which  not  only  burns  the  senses,  but  pollutes  all  that  is 
most  noble  in  our  souls.''  The  Reformer  held  to  the 
doctrine  of  total  depravity,  or  the  entire  deprivation  of 
that  principle  of  holiness  wnth  which  man  had  been  orig- 
inally endowed.  Self-recovery,  he  maintained,  was  im- 
possible. Man  could  destroy,  but  he  could  not  re-create, 
himself  He  could  depart  from  God,  but  could  not,  by 
his  own  act,  return  to  him.  "  If  thou  pretendest  to  rise 
by  thine  own  strength,  thou  standest  on  the  end  of  a 
reed."  There  he  finds  no  support,  and  the  reed  is 
quickly  broken.  Salvation  is  in  Christ  only.  The 
penalty  to  which  we  were  subject  has  been  laid  on  the 
innocent. 

The  divine  Founder  of  the  kingdom  has  suffered  in 
the  place  of  the  children  of  the  kingdom.     Onr  peace 


284  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

can  be  found  only  in  the  terrors  and  agony  of  Christ 
our  Redeemer.  Man  has  no  sooner  embraced  the  atone- 
m'ent  with  a  faith  full  of  confidence  than  he  experiences 
peace  in  his  conscience  and  a  sweet  and  joyful  com- 
munion with  God.  Faith  in  its  beginning  is  a  feeble 
principle.  Some  believe  with  trembling.  They  do  not 
see  the  Sun  of  righteousness  clearly.  They  only  catch 
some  beams  of  his  glory,  enough  to  tell  that  the  night 
is  past  and  the  day  is  come. 
"'^  Calvin  taught  that  the  soul  in  Christ  was  for  ever 
secure.  Believing  once,  the  Christian  believed  always, 
and  Christ  completed  what  he  began.  ^'  The  light  of 
faith,"  he  said,  ^'  is  never  so  extinct  that  there  does  not 
remain  some  glimmer.  The  root  of  faith  is  never  so 
torn  from  the  heart  that  it  does  not  remain  there, 
although  it  seems  to  lean  to  this  side  or  that.'' 
'  The  Reformer  exalts  the  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Conversion  is  his  work,  not  our  own — "  A  doctrine," 
he  says,  "  not  only  useful,  but  sweet  and  savory  through 
the  fruit  it  bears."  "Grace  in  all  its  fullness,"  wrote 
D'Aubigne,  the  historian  of  the  Reformation — '^  grace 
from  the  first  movement  of  regeneration  until  the  final 
accomplishment  of  salvation — was  the  keynote  of  all 
Calvin's  theology;  and  it  is  also  the  powerful  artillery 
with  which  he  batters  the  Roman  fortress.  Like  St.  Paul 
in  the  first  century,  like  St.  Augustine  in  the  fifth,  Cal- 
vin is  the  doctor  of  grace  in  the  sixteenth." 

Some  alleged  then,  as  some  affirm  now,  that  Calvin- 
ism is  fatalism — that  God  predestines  the  wicked  to  evil, 
[md  they  are  unjustly  condemned,  since  they  execute 
only  what  God  has  determined.  Calvin  rejected  so  im- 
pious a  doctrine.     "  Far  from  having  obeyed  God's  com- 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  285 

mand,  tlie  wicked  by  their  lusts  rebel  against  it  as  far 
as  in  them  lies.  There  must  be  no  fencing  with  God ; 
there  must  be  no  saying  with  Agamennion  in  Homer, 
speaking  of  evil,  '  It  is  not  I  who  am  the  cause,  but 
Jupiter  and  Fate.'  God  predestinates  no  one  to  destruc- 
tion ;  he  shuts  no  one  out  of  heaven  by  an  absolute  and 
arbitrary  decree.'' 

With  faith  the  Reformer  associated  holiness.  The 
love  of  sin  is  cast  out.  The  will  is  in  harmony  with 
God's.  It  chooses  w^hat  he  chooses ;  it  rejects  what  he 
rejects ;  the  love  of  righteousness  takes  the  place  of  the 
love  of  sin,  and  the  word  of  God  is  made  the  rule  of  life. 
He  speaks  in  strong  terms  of  reprobation  of  a  dead  the- 
ology. He  says  :  "  We  know  those  babblers  who  are 
content  with  having  the  gospel  on  their  lips,  whilst  it 
ought  to  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  soul,  and  we  detest 
their  babbling.  No  one  can  embrace  the  grace  of  the 
gospel  but  he  must  depart  from  the  errors  of  his  former 
life.  The  soul  that  is  united  to  Christ  enjoys  a  twofold 
benefit — the  perfect  imputation  of  Christ's  righteousness 
which  attends  him  to  the  grave,  and  the  commencement 
of  sanctification,  which  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  the 
truth  and  ordinances  of  religion,  continually  advances, 
till  at  length  salvation  is  completed  with  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  and  the  stuj^endous  mercy  of  God  is  made 
the  subject  of  everlasting  praise  in  the  kingdom  which 
endureth  for  ever." 

The  work  of  Calvin  is  accepted,  in  the  main,  as  a 
scriptural  exposition  of  faith  by  all  evangelical  Chris- 
tians, whilst  by  the  larger  part  of  Christendom  it  is  re- 
ceived with  scarce  a  modification. 

The  departure  of  the  Romish  Church  from  the  apos- 


286  EOMA^USM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

tolic  faith  thus  revived  by  the  Reformer  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  the  book  was  condemned  by  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris  to  be  burned  as  containing  damnable, 
pernicious,  heretical  doctrine,  and  was  everywhere, 
among  the  papists,  the  butt  of  sarcasm,  the  subject  of 
ceaseless  defamation  and  the  object  of  implacable  hatred. 

After  giving  his  Institutes  to  the  world,  Calvin  went 
to  Ferrara  in  Italy,  where  it  was  said  that  "  his  star 
shone  with  a  purer  light  than  that  of  the  bard  of  Or- 
lando or  of  Godfrey.''  But  the  persecution  which  over- 
came Ariosto  and  Tasso  compelled  him  to  fly  to  the  shores 
of  the  Rhine.  On  the  way  he  stopped  at  Aosta  in  North- 
ern Italy,  a  city  at  the  base  of  the  Alps,  having  above 
it,  among  the  eternal  glaciers,  the  Hospice  of  St.  Ber- 
nard. Here,  in  the  city  where  popery  preserves  among 
her  most  sacred  relics  the  jawbone  of  John  the  Baptist, 
the  evangelist  did  good  service  for  the  Master.  Near  by 
the  ancient  walls  which  the  emperor  Augustus  erected 
is  a  monument  which  records  the  visit  of  the  Reformer 
three  centuries  ago.  From  Aosta  he  passed  through 
Switzerland ;  tarried  a  while  in  Noyon  in  the  home  of 
his  childhood  and  among  the  graves  of  his  dead  ;  went 
to  Paris,  where  his  friends  received  him  with  joy,  re- 
garding him,  though  so  young,  as  the  most  noted  author 
and  most  potential  man  of  that  age ;  and  then  he  de- 
parted for  his  adopted  country  beyond  tlie  limits  of  his 
loved  but  persecuting  France. 

One  evening  in  the  midsummer  a  diligence  came  into 
Geneva  from  the  west  and  passed  quietly  on  to  an 
inn.  It  may  have  attracted  little  attention  except  from 
those  who  were  exiles  from  France  for  conscience'  sake, 
and  who  may  have  thought  to  receive  through  the  trav- 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  287 

elers  some  tidings  from  their  native  country.  Twc 
young  men  and  a  beautiful  young  woman,  bearing  to 
each  other  a  family  resemblance,  entered  the  inn.  One 
of  them  was  a  pale,  thin  man  of  low  stature  and  modest 
bearing,  and  yet  there  was  that  in  his  remarkable  face 
which  attracted  attention,  and  the  curious  about  the 
doors  or  the  loungers  in  the  inn  knew  that  no  ordinary 
character  had  entered  Geneva.  But  they  knew  not  who 
he  was  nor  whence  he  came.  He  announced  his  purpose 
to  remain  a  single  night  and  then  continue  his  journey 
to  the  northward.  Presently  a  third  young  man  entered, 
the  ex-canon  of  the  cathedral  of  Angouleme,  Du  Fillet, 
whose  name  has  grown  familiar  to  us,  and,  glancing 
rapidly  around  the  apartment,  he  recognized  his  friend 
John  Calvin.  The  meeting  was  as  joyful  as  it  was  un- 
expected. 

After  Du  Fillet  came  a  man  twenty  years  the  senior 
of  Calvin.  He  is  a  Frenchman  also  and  a  man  of 
might.  His  face  is  careworn  and  his  manner  uneasy. 
He  has  been  in  many  a  hard-fought  battle  with  the 
papacy,  but  is  determined  to  stand  by  his  colors  and 
fight  on  to  the  end,  be  it  victory  or  defeat.  He  has 
undertaken  a  great  work  in  Geneva,  his  residence  for 
over  two  years,  and  he  feels  the  need  of  help.  He 
meets  Calvin,  of  whom  he  has  heard.  He  is  not  dis- 
appointed in  the  young  man,  though  he  may  have 
thought  his  fame  an  exaggeration.  So  far  from  that, 
he  is  deeply  impressed  with  the  mighty  intellect  and  the 
moral  courage  of  his  countryman  who  has  already  done 
so  much  for  the  Reformation.  He  sees  before  him  the 
helper  for  whom  he  has  waited  and  prayed,  and  demands 
of  Calvin   that  he  abandon  all  thoughts  of  Basle  or 


288  BOMAXISM  ASD   THE  REFORMERS. 

Strassburg,  and  at  once  ideutify  himself  with  the  work 
in  Geneva,  where  his  presence  is  greatly  needed.  There 
are  in  tlie  man  an  imperativeness  and  an  awful  earnest- 
ness that  impress  Calvin.  He  hears  the  voice  of  God 
in  that  little  inn,  and  feels  a  hand  reaching  down  from 
heaven  holding  him  to  the  spot.  William  Farel  has 
gained  his  point;  Calvin's  plans  are  changed.  He  had 
expected  to  resume  his  journey  in  the  morning,  and  per- 
haps never  return.  He  is  to  abide  in  Geneva,  and  ac- 
complish a  work  which  shall  be  the  joy  of  multitudes 
and  the  aduiiration  of  aii^es. 

Soon  after  he  had  established  his  home  in  Geneva  the 
young  Reformer,  who  had  spoken  to  little  groups  of 
Christians  in  the  castles  and  villas  of  France,  appeared 
in  the  cathedral  as  an  expounder  of  the  word  of  God  to 
large  and  continually  increasing  assemblies.  The  mod- 
esty of  the  young  man  gave  a  peculiar  charm  to  his 
teachings.  He  was  great  without  knowing  it.  He  was 
surrounded  with  an  aureole  of  light,  but  did  not  realize 
his  power  as  a  teacher  or  compass  the  scope  of  his  in- 
fluence. 

Here  in  Geneva,  a  city  of  no  great  pretensions, 
scarcely  to  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  Paris  or 
Rome,  yet  situated  on  one  of  the  highways  of  Europe, 
communicating  readily  with  Germany,  France  and  Italy, 
and  influencing  all,  Calvin  preached  a  pure  gospel,  and 
with  a  distinctness  and  force  of  statement  that  had  been 
long  unknown.  From  this  focal  point  the  truth  radiated 
into  three  adjoining  kingdoms,  so  that  Geneva  became 
to  Europe  what  Jerusalem  was  to  Judea,  a  centre  of 
religious  influence  whose  circumference  was  far  out  of 
Bight. 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  289 

The  preacher  attacked  the  superstitions  of  Rome  with 
a  heroism  which  was  sublime.  Penance,  indulirences, 
ima(:»;e-worship,  the  mass,  the  ignorance,  cupidity,  and 
dissoluteness  of  the  priests,  and  the  blasphemous  assump- 
tions of  the  pope,  were  condemned  in  terms  intelligible 
to  all. 

Notice  how  in  a  few  sentences  he  effectually  demol- 
ishes the  dogma  of  transubstantiation  :  ^^  According  to 
Rome,  we  eat  in  the  Supper  either  the  mortal  body  of 
Christ  or  his  glorified  body ;  if  his  mortal  body,  then 
Jesus  is  at  this  hour  mortal  and  passable,  while  tlie 
Scriptures  declare  that  he  has  laid  aside  all  infirmity. 
If  it  be  his  immortal  and  glorified  body,  Jesus  at  the 
first  Supper  was  seated  at  the  table  in  his  mortal  and 
passable  body,  and  he  was  at  the  same  time  in  the  hands 
and  mouths  of  his  disciples  in  his  immortal  and  glorified 
body.  The  dreams  of  Marcion  were  never  so  fantastic.'' 
He  then  maintained  that  Christ  makes  us  truly  partici- 
pants of  his  body  and  blood,  but  altogether  in  a  spiritual 
way,  by  the  power  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 

He  advocated  the  frequent  observance  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  since  in  it  we  are  made  partakers  of  all  the 
benefits  of  Jesus  Christ  and  furnished  with  an  incentive 
to  brotherly  love.  He  deemed  it  desirable  to  celebrate 
the  Supper  on  every  Lord's  Day,  but  inasmuch  as  this 
frequency  might,  through  the  infirmity  of  men,  bring 
the  ordinance  into  contempt,  he  judged  a  monthly  ob- 
servance of  the  sacrament  to  be  all  that  was  advisable. 
The  council  of  Geneva  recommended  the  celebration  of 
the  Supper  only  four  times  a  year. 

Calvin  insisted  upon  spiritual  worship  as  distinguish- 
ed  from    papal   ritualism,   and   he   removed    fiom    the 


290  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

churches  whatever  fostered  idolatry  or  disparages!  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ.  He  eschewed  the  mere  sesthetic  and 
artistic  elements  on  which  the  Church  of  Home  relied, 
and  he  also  carried  into  the  pulpit  a  simplicity  of  style 
and  manner  ^\hich  separated  him  from  conspicuous  con- 
temporaries who  were  more  rhetorical  and  declamatory. 
He  condemned  festivals  and  holidays,  and  regarded  with 
an  especial  aversion  that  exaltation  of  saints  and  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  which  obscured  the  only  Mediator  between 
God  and  man. 

He  approved  of  a  modified  and  guarded  subordination 
of  the  Church  to  the  State,  and  yet,  whilst  he  distin- 
guished the  functions  of  the  clergy  from  those  of  civil 
magistrates,  he  favored  uudne  interference  of  the  State 
with  purely  ecclesiastical  matters.  He  also  made  the 
ministry  dependent  upon  the  State  for  their  worldly 
maintenance,  thinking  by  this  means  to  escape  that 
spiritual  domination  which  the  hierarchy  sought  to  con- 
tinue. 

The  friends  of  the  Reformation  in  Geneva  were  in 
the  minority.  Contentions  between  the  opposing  parties 
ran  high.  The  lines  of  separation  were  unyielding. 
Calvin  was  ready  to  suffer,  but  he  would  not  compromise 
the  truth.  He  was  intelligently  and  conscientiously 
pledged  to  the  principles  of  scriptural  reform.  On  them 
he  stood ;  he  could  do  nothing  else.  Men  knew  where 
to  find  hira.  The  floods  might  roll  over  him  and  for  a 
time  hide  him  from  view,  but,  when  overpast,  he  was 
seen  standing  on  the  very  spot  where  they  smote  him. 
Had  he  been  as  vacillating  as  Erasmus,  he  would  have 
been  the  contempt  of  papists  and  Protestants  alike — a 
mere  cipher  in  the  history  of  that  age,  and  his  name,  if 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  291 

continued  at  all,  would  have  been  the  synonym  of  moral 
weakness. 

At  length  the  violence  of  popery  prevailed  over  the 
counsels  of  the  Reformers.  The  religion  of  the  latter 
was  hated  because  it  rebuked  all  raafiner  of  vice  by  its 
purity  and  restrained  it  by  its  stern  condemnation.  Cal- 
vin and  Farel  were  driven  from  the  city,  and  all  wlm 
had  been  leaders  in  the  Reformation  were  banished. 
Calvin  left  Geneva  in  sorrow — sorrow  not  so  much  for 
himself  as  for  the  people  who  had  cast  him  out.  Like 
his  Master,  he  had  done  many  good  works  among  them. 
He  had  striven  to  lead  them  into  the  light  and  liberty 
of  the  gospel,  and  for  this  they  sent  him  into  exile  and 
rejected  the  truth  which  alone  was  sufficient  to  enlighten 
and  sav^e  them. 

With  a  heavy  heart,  yet  confiding  in  God,  he  went  to 
Basle,  and  thence  to  Strassburg,  where  a  warm  welcome 
awaited  him  and  a  great  calm.  Here  were  some  of  the 
most  noted  men  of  the  age,  such  as  Capito,  Bacon  and 
Niger.  ^^  What  gratitude  we  owe  you,"  they  wrote  to 
Farel,  "  for  resigning  Calvin  to  us !"  At  once  the 
young  doctor  is  set  in  the  front.  He  is  made  lecturer 
on  theology,  and  students  from  France  and  Germany  sit 
at  his  feet.  He  founded  a  church.  He  preached  four 
times  a  week  ;  he  met  the  officers  of  the  church  once  a 
week  for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  and  prayer.  The 
Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated  once  a  month.  He  revised 
his  great  work  The  Institutes,  enlarged  the  catechism  he 
had  written  at  Geneva,  and  composed  a  treatise  on  the 
Lord's  Supper,  a  copy  of  which  he  sent  to  Luther ;  and 
in  great  poverty,  unwilling  to  receive  any  remuneration 
for  his  publications,  he  continued  his  multifarious  labors 


292  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

without  intermission.  He  also  found  time  to  send  an 
occasional  message  to  the  faithful  few  in  Geneva,  exhort- 
ing them  to  stand  fast  in  the  truth  and  assuring  them 
of  his  affectionate  remembrance  of  them.  The  tidings 
that  were  returned  to  him  were  sad.  The  enemies  of 
evangelical  religion  cruelly  persecuted  its  adherents,  and 
it  seemed  that  all  the  Reformation  had  gained  was  about 
to  be  irretrievably  lost.  Even  in  Strassburg  there  was 
much  to  grieve  him.  Many  were  disposed  to  remain  in 
the  Romish  Church.  They  thought  to  sweep  the  house 
and  garnish  it.  Calvin  held  that  separation  was  a  ne- 
cessity— without  it  no  triumph  for  the  truth.  He  would 
not  consent  to  live  among  the  tombs  and  in  an  atmo- 
sphere which  could  only  perpetuate  the  reign  of  death. 
He  would  go  out  of  the  Church  and  seek  the  heights 
where  the  air  was  pure  and  the  light  undimmed.  He 
would  go  thither,  though  an  exile  from  those  he  loved. 
He  would  stand  alone,  and,  if  needs  be,  all  the  world 
against  him,  he  would  die  alone,  contending  to  the  last 
for  Christ  and  his  known  truth.  Melanchthon  and 
Bucer  thought  him  strangely  rash  ;  they  would  moderate 
his  zeal.  He  could  tolerate  no  compromise  with  error. 
Many  thought  him  stubborn,  severe,  radical.  Perhaps 
there  was  some  ground  for  the  opinion.  "  Nevertheless,'^ 
as  Froude  said  at  St.  Andrews,  ^'  for  hard  times  hard 
men  are  needed,  and  intellects  which  can  pierce  to  the 
roots  where  truth  and  lies  part  company." 

About  this  time  Calvin  married  a  widow,  a  woman 
of  exceptional  intelligence  and  moral  worth,  Idilette  de 
Bures,  with  whom  he  lived  happily  for  nine  years,  her 
early  death  casting  a  shadow  on  his  life  which  was  never 
wholly  lifted.     He  lived  thereafter  alone — not  morose, 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  293 

but  resigned,  forgetting  himself  in  devotion  to  the 
Church  he  ardently  loved.  He  welcomed  a  few  friends 
to  his  retired  lodgings,  and  held  cheerful  converse  with 
them.  Although  sedate  and  dignified,  he  was  approach- 
able by  the  humblest.  He  was  not  distinguished  for 
wit,  and  as  a  postprandial  speaker,  after  the  manner  of 
modern  times,  would  have  been  considered  a  failure  ; 
yet  he  excelled  as  a  conversationalist  and  attracted  the 
great  men  of  his  day,  who  acknowledged  his  intellectual 
superiority  and  lit  their  torches  at  the  fire  he  had  kindled. 

Two  years  and  a  half  of  exile,  filled  with  labors, 
soon  rolled  by.  ^The  condition  of  Geneva  became  de- 
plorable. The  foundations  of  law  and  order  seemed 
destroyed.  Murders  had  made  the  streets  to  run  with 
blood.  The  violence  of  popery  had  produced  a  reaction. 
Many  longed  for  Calvin's  return.  They  asked  for  it. 
Messages  were  sent  to  him  beseeching  him  to  come  to 
their  help.  The  senators  of  Basle,  Berne  and  Zurich 
united  in  the  request.  The  council  of  Geneva  did  the 
same.  Calvin  hesitated,  but  at  length  the  path  of  duty 
became  so  clear  that  he  could  no  longer  refuse. 

With  many  tears,  led  by  the  cloudy  pillar,  he  left 
Strassburg,  returned  to  Geneva,  and  was  received  by 
the  people  with  demonstrations  of  great  joy.  The 
preacher  became  a  legislator  and  drew  up  a  code  of 
laws  for  the  government  of  the  little  republic.  These 
were  adopted  by  the  state.  They  contemplated  the 
extirpation  of  every  vice  and  of  all  heresy — of  every- 
thing in  social  and  public  life  that  would  tend  to  the 
fostering  of  impurity  or  weaken  abhorrence  of  sin. 
They  proscribed  extravagance  in  dress,  luxurious  liv- 
ing,  demoralizing   amusements,    games   of   chance   and 


294  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

everything  in  private  life  inconsistent  with  the  word 
of  God. 

Calvin  insisted  that  the  Bible  was  the  only  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  conduct.  Men  should  have  and  ex- 
press no  opinion  contrary  to  it,  nor  in  any  of  the  rela- 
tions of  life  contravene  its  teachino^s.  He  would  recoa:- 
nize  no  legislation  which  was  not  in  harmony  with  it. 
He  would  consent  to  no  standard  of  morals  in  the  state 
that  fell  a  hair's  breadth  below  that  of  the  divine.  Had 
Calvin's  code  prevailed,  Geneva  would  have  been  a  mar- 
vel in  the  social  life  of  all  the  ages — a  republic  which 
lives  nowhere  this  side  of  the  millennium. 

The  history  of  all  nations  has  made  it  evident  that 
mere  legislation  will  not  make  men  pure.  A  true 
morality  finds  its  root  in  religion  alone.  The  heart 
must  be  renewed  before  the  life  can  be  right.  Calvin 
did  not  accomplish  all  that  he  proposed.  The  laws 
of  Geneva  were  violated,  but  they  stood  nevertheless. 
If  they  failed  to  destroy,  they  at  least  served  to  re- 
strain. 

John  Knox  visited  Geneva,  and  that  little  city  be- 
side the  lake  was  to  him  as  the  porch  of  heaven. 
^^  Elsewhere,"  said  he,  "  the  word  of  God  is  taught  as 
purely,  but  never  anywhere  have  I  seen  God  obeyed  as 
faithfully.''  Doubtless  there  was  an  outward  obedience 
in  Geneva  surpassing  what  was  known  in  Scotland,  and 
even  this  may  have  prepared  the  way  in  many  instances 
for  inward  grace.  The  order,  quiet  and  prosperity  of 
the  republic  under  the  Reformer  were  such  as  to  com- 
mand the  admiration  of  Montesquieu,  who  said,  "  The 
Genevese  may  bless  the  day  that  Calvin  was  born." 

The  spiritual  head  of  the  Church  and   State   alike, 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  295 

Calvin's  labors  for  twenty-three  years  were  wellnigli 
incredible.  He  preached  almost  daily;  he  wrote  com- 
mentaries; he  published  theological  and  polemical 
pamphlets  and  books;  he  founded  an  academy  which 
numbered  five  hundred  students  the  first  year  of  its 
existence,  and  has  continued  to  this  day ;  he  attended 
the  meetings  of  the  church  courts  and  of  the  civil  coun- 
cils ;  gave  his  advice  as  to  the  government  of  the  repub- 
lic ;  carried  on  an  extensive  correspondence  with  all  parts 
of  Europe ;  received  to  his  house  and  academy,  as  dis- 
ciples, learned  men  from  nearly  all  parts  of  the  Con- 
tinent and  British  Isles ;  conferred  with  Reformers  who 
were  twice  his  own  age  in  reference  to  the  great  ques- 
tions of  the  day ;  whilst  from  Italy,  France  and  Spain 
there  came  families  of  noble  birth  and  exiles  for  con- 
science' sake,  drawn  thither  by  his  fame,  which  was  like 
that  which  brought  the  queen  of  Sheba  to  Jerusalem. 

Theodore  Beza  was  long  an  intimate  friend  of  the 
Reformer,  and  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  so  reli- 
able an  authority  concerning  Calvin's  habits  of  study 
and  life.  Beza  says  of  him  :  "  In  living  he  was  so  tem- 
perate as  to  be  equally  remote  from  meanness  and  any 
degree  of  luxury;  so  sparing  in  food  that  for  many 
years  he  took  but  one  meal  a  day,  and  sleeping  scarcely 
any ;  of  incredible  memory,  so  that  he  instantly  recog- 
nized those  whom  he  had  seen  but  once  many  years 
before,  and  so  that  he  could,  after  an  interruption  of 
hours,  return  to  what  he  had  dictated  and  take  up  the 
words  where  he  had  left  off,  and  never,  though  oppressed 
by  diversified  and  endless  cares,  forgetting  any  of  those 
things  which  it  was  his  duty  to  remember  ;  of  judg- 
ment so  clear  and  exact,  whatever  the  topic  on  which  he 

20 


296  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

was  consulted,  that  he  often  seemed  to  be  almost  pro- 
phetic. He  never  seemed  to  be  at  a  loss  for  something 
weighty,  apposite  or  forceful ;  nor  did  his  oral  discourse 
much  vary  from  his  writing.  In  the  doctrine  which 
he  delivered  at  first  he  remained  firm  to  the  last,  and 
changed  nothing ;  which  has  happened  to  few  theologians 
of  our  day. 

"  As  to  his  manner  of  life,  though  nature  formed  him 
to  be  grave,  there  was  no  man  who  had  more  sweetness 
in  common  intercourse.  In  natural  temperament  he  was 
undoubtedly  choleric,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  had  taught 
him  to  so  moderate  anger  that  he  never  uttered  a  single 
word  unworthy  of  a  good  man,  still  less  offended  in  act ; 
nor  was  he  ever  hasty  except  when  the  cause  of  religion 
was  at  stake  or  when  he  had  to  deal  with  men  of  violent 
character.'^ 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written  concerning  the 
burning  of  Servetus.  Calvin  has  been  held  responsible 
for  the  Spaniard's  death.  When  Romanism  has  failed 
to  make  successful  assaults  upon  Protestantism  from  all 
other  quarters,  it  repeats  the  old  charge,  and,  lifting  her 
hands  all  covered  with  the  blood  of  martyrs,  points  to 
the  stake  where  Servetus  burns,  and  says,  ^'  Your  wicked 
Calvin  did  it."  Infidelity  does  the  same.  It  is  the  only 
argument  against  Christianity  which  many  of  its  enemies 
employ.  Shutting  their  eyes  against  the  light,  their  ears 
against  the  truth,  they  cry,  "  The  founder  of  your  faith 
burned  Servetus."  A  word  just  here.  The  Founder  of 
our  faith  is  Christ.  The  expounders  of  it  were  evang- 
elists and  apostles ;  its  depository  is  the  word  of  God. 
We  do  not  call  Calvin  or  Augustine  or  Paul  master. 
We  follow  them  as  followers  of  Christ.     We  are  bound 


CALVIN   IN  GENEVA.  297 

to  no  statement  of  the  Genevan  Reformer  unless  it  be 
fortified  by  a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord." 

As  the  expounder  of  Pauline  theology  and  the  formu- 
lator  of  the  evangelical  faith  we  regard  Calvin  as  the 
greatest  teacher  of  the  Reformation.  In  this  respect  he 
towers  above  Luther,  Melanchthon  and  Zwingle.  He 
was  the  heaven-appointed  Joshua  to  lead  the  Church 
into  the  promised  land.  As  such  we  honor  him  and 
love  him.  ^ 

Recognizing  him  as  the  formulator  of  the  Reformed 
faith,  which  we  believe  to  be  scriptural,  we  would 
mitigate,  whilst  we  do  not  wholly  deny,  the  allegation 
which  lays  the  death  of  Servetus  at  his  door.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  sentiment  of  the  age  favored 
the  destruction  of  heretics,  and  Calvin  had  not  risen 
above  it.  Melanchthon,  Farel,  Bucer  and  Beza  were  in 
accord  with  it.  The  Church  of  Rome,  maintaining 
these  principles,  had  slain  her  tens  of  thousands.  Heresy 
was  pursued  with  swords  and  fagots  and  girdled  with 
flames.  It  had  driven  the  Vaudois  Christians  to  the 
shelter  of  the  rocks  and  the  refuge  of  caves.  It  had 
strangled  Christians  with  ropes,  drowned  them  in  rivers, 
burned  them  at  stakes.  Is  it  any  Avonder  that  the 
Reformed  Church,  not  fully  emancipated  from  the  errors 
of  the  times,  should  deal  somewhat  severely  with  the 
enemies  of  the  truth  ?  Is  it  surprising  that  the  coming 
of  Servetus  to  Geneva  when  the  Reformation  was  hold- 
ing quietly  on  its  way,  when  the  principles  of  peace  and 
purity  were  gaining  the  ascendancy,  when  Christ  was 
being  honored,  trusted  and  adored,  and  heaven  was 
opening  wide  its  portals  over  the  mountain-girt  asylum 
of  refugees  from  almost  every  land,  should  arouse  Cal- 


298  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

vin  to  bold  resistaace  of  the  heretical  teaching  of  the 
Spaniard  ?  Would  he  not  have  been  recreant  to  his 
trust  as  a  spiritual  shepherd  if  he  had  not  given  the 
alarm  and  condemned  the  wrong?  Servetus  opposed 
the  foundation  principles  of  the  Reformation.  He  denied 
and  ridiculed  the  faith  for  which  so  many  had  died. 
His  influence  was  evil  only.  His  duplicity,  rashness 
and  fanaticism  were  displayed  on  many  occasions.  At 
Vienna  he  had  been  proved  guilty  of  perjury.  Intel- 
lectually strong,  he  was  morally  weak.  He  came  to 
Geneva  with  malicious  intent.  He  died  with  blasphemies 
on  his  lips. 

Calvin  was  especially  influenced  by  the  teach- 
ings of  Pierre  de  FEtoile,  the  great  French  jurist,  a 
Romanist,  whose  pupil  he  had  been.  Pierre  had 
taught  that  the  prosperity  of  nations  depends  upon 
obedience  to  the  laws,  and  insisted  that  if  they  punish 
outrages  against  the  rights  of  man,  much  more  ought 
they  to  punish  outrages  against  the  rights  of  God. 
"What!''  exclaimed  the  great  jurist,  "shall  the  law 
protect  a  man  in  his  body  and  goods,  and  not  in  his  soul 
and  his  .most  precious  and  eternal  inheritance?"  "A 
thief  shall  not  be  able  to  rob  us  of  our  purses,  but  a 
heretic  may  deprive  us  of  heaven.  Those  insensate  and 
furious  men  who  proclaim  heretical  and  infamous  opin- 
ions ought  first  to  be  delivered  up  to  divine  vengeance, 
and  afterward  visited  with  corporal  punishment.'^  These 
principles  were  modified  by  the  Reformation,  but  not 
entirely  discarded. 

Calvin  felt  that  the  souls  of  many  were  endangered  by 
Servetus's  teachings.  The  interests  at  stake  were  to  a 
single  life  as   Mont   Blanc  to  the  anthill   at  its   base. 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  299 

Believing  tins,  he  had  deprecated  the  Spaniard's  coming, 
and  resisted  him  when  he  came.  He  formulated  charges 
against  him,  and  believed  he  ought  to  be  punished.  He 
was  influenced  by  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty  to  God,  to 
the  Church  and  to  a  perishing  world.  Still,  it  was  tiie 
State  rather  than  Calvin  that  demanded  the  death  of 
Servetus,  and  it  was  urged  by  considerations  for  the 
safety  of  the  Republic  rather  than  for  the  interests  of 
the  Church.  And  after  the  government  of  Geneva  had 
condemned  Servetus  to  be  burned,  Calvin  asked  for  a 
modification  of  the  sentence.  This  was  denied  on  the 
ground  that  the  law  prescribed  the  punishment  and  there 
remained  no  room  for  choice.  Servetus  had  denounced 
Calvin  as  a  homicide,  and  had  his  counsel  prevailed 
the  Reformer  would  have  been  burned.  The  Spaniard 
digged  a  pit  and  fell  into  it  himself.  We  regret  the 
manner  of  his  death.  The  Protestant  Church  discour- 
ages the  employment  of  carnal  weapons  and  forbids 
corporal  punishment.  But  it  holds  the  Romish  Church, 
rather  than  the  Reformer,  responsible  for  the  death  of 
Servetus — the  age  rather  than  Calvin. 

But  is  it  not  surprising  that  the  burning  of  Servetus 
should  so  stand  out  in  history  and  be  so  persistently 
misrepresented  by  Romanists  and  infidels  that  all  the 
scenes  of  bloodshed  in  Paris  and  Rome  and  in  the  val- 
leys of  Piedmont  and  on  the  British  Isles— blood  flowing 
in  rivers,  the  flames  of  funeral-piles  turning  night  into 
day  and  sending  their  glare  across  the  continent, — that 
all  these  should  be  almost  or  quite  forgotten,  and  the 
death  of  a  lone  man  should  shut  out  of  view  the  heca- 
tombs of  martyrs  for  the  Protestant  faith.  ?  It  declares 
the  weakness  of  our  enemies.     It  honors  the  Protestant 


300  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

faith.  It  declares  the  freedom  of  the  Reformation  from 
the  atrocities  of  popery.  The  spot  it  denounces  is  on 
the  sun,  and  that  rides  in  glory  througli  the  sky. 

Calvin's  name  is  one  of  the  most  honorable  in  all  the 
annals  of  the  Christian  era,  and  his  influence  has  ex- 
tended from  Geneva  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  sys- 
tem of  faith  formulated  from  the  word  of  God  has  lived 
without  material  change  for  three  hundred  years,  and  is 
the  faith  of  the  largest  part  of  Christendom  to-day. 

We  have  only  gathered  up  some  shreds  of  the  won- 
derful story.  We  have  spent  only  a  few  moments  where 
were  enacted  the  scenes  of  a  marvelous  life. 

On  all  the  continent  of  Europe  there  is  to  many  no 
city  more  interesting  than  Geneva.  St.  Peter's  cathedral 
has  long  been  a  Protestant  church.  It  stands  on  the 
summit  of  a  hill  in  the  ancient  town.  It  is  an  impos- 
ing temple,  with  nave  and  transept  and  high  arches 
upborne  by  massive  cohuims,  to  one  of  which  is  attached 
the  pulpit  the  Reformer  occupied  three  centuries  ago. 
From  the  porch  of  St.  Peter's  we  may  look  out  on  one 
of  the  most  inspiring  prospects  the  world  aflbrds.  Near 
by  is  the  beautiful  Lake  Leman,  its  waters  clear  as  crys- 
tal, the  Jura  Mountains  casting  their  shadows  over  it. 
The  vine-covered  Savoy  hills  form  its  southern  bound- 
ary. The  Plain  Palais  lies  in  strange  beauty  at  our  feet. 
AVal nut-groves  and  orchards  and  fields  of  corn  reach 
down  to  the  waters  of  the  Arve  and  stretch  away  to  the 
distant  hills,  and  beyond  the  Grand  Sal^ve  are  the  Alpine 
peaks  covered  with  perpetual  snows,  whilst  far  above 
the  Mer  de  Glace  rises  Mont  Blanc,  wearing  a  gleam- 
ing crown  and  looking  down  upon  us  as  out  of  another 
world. 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  301 

Amid  scenes  of  such  beauty  and  grandeur  Calvin 
preached  the  everlasting  gospel  ;  and  if  ever  he  found 
time  to  look  on  the  great  mountains  or  that  near  lake, 
they  may  have  suggested  thoughts  of  God's  power,  of 
the  eternity  of  truth  and  of  the  saints'  everlasting  rest 
in  that  ((uiet  haven,  guarded  by  the  mountain  of  spices, 
wherein  shall  go  no  galley  with  oars,  neither  shall  gal- 
lant ship  pass  thereby. 

In  this  cathedral  Calvin  delivered  his  last  sermon, 
Feb.  6,  1564;  and  although,  when  unable  to  walk,  he 
was  carried  thither  by  his  friends,  yet  he  could  do  no 
more  than  utter  a  few  sentences  after  another  had 
preached.  He  suffered  from  severe  pain,  and  an  asth- 
matic trouble  which  had  long  harassed  him  made  even 
ordinary  conversation  difficult.  As  the  sun  of  life  sank 
toward  its  setting  his  Christian  character  shone  with 
peculiar  beauty.  His  heart  was  softened  and  enlarged. 
He  had  been  often  defamed,  even  by  friends  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, but  he  freely  forgave,  and  repeated  his  oft- 
expressed  desire  for  closer  union  among  the  various 
branches  of  the  Reformed  Church.  He  longed  to  see 
them  closing  up  their  ranks  and  presenting  an  undivided 
front  to  the  enemy.  Rome  boasted  of  her  unity.  Why 
should  not  the  Protestant  Church  be  one?  Was  there 
not  common  ground  broad  enough  on  which  the  churches 
of  Germany,  Italy  and  France  might  stand?  Could 
not  Luther,  Zwingle  and  Calvin  maintain  the  same  es- 
sential system  in  opposition  to  the  errors  of  Rome?  No 
one  in  the  sixteenth  century  prayed  and  labored  so  earn- 
estly as  he  for  the  union  of  the  Reformed  churches. 
He  wrote  books  and  pamphlets  and  many  letters  urging 
this  upon  all  the  friends  of  evangelical  religion.      He 


.302  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

was  as  far  removed  from  bigotry  as  man  could  be.  Nar- 
row-mindedness and  short-sightedness  enclosed  with  lim- 
ited walls,  but  his  vision  was  wide  and  far-reaching,  and 
his  heart  embraced  all  wdio  loved  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
To  the  interests  of  church  unity  the  last  hours  of  his 
life  were  devoted. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death  he  was  carried  to  the 
council-house,  and  there  nominated  a  new  rector  for  the 
Gymnasium,  to  wdiom  the  usual  oath  w^as  administered. 
Then  rising  from  his  seat  with  uncovered  head,  laboring 
for  breath,  he  thanked  the  lords  for  all  their  expressions 
of  sympathy  with  him  and  their  acts  of  kindness  in  hjs 
affliction,  intimating  that  he  looked  on  them  for  the  last 
time.  The  noble  lords  bowed  their  heads  and  shed  tears. 
His  last  farew^ell  was  spoken,  and  he  passed  out  of  the 
assembly-room  never  to  return.  The  following  Sabbath 
he  was  carried  to  the  cathedral  in  a  chair,  received  the 
Lord^s  Supper,  joined  in  the  closing  hymn,  and  then  was 
borne  to  his  own  house  to  die. 

A  little  later  he  w^rote  to  Farel,  not  expecting  to  meet 
him  again.  There  is  a  marked  tenderness  breathing 
through  this  message  to  his  old  and  tried  friend :  "Fare 
thee  well,  best  and  frankest  brother,  and  since  it  is  God's 
will  that  thou  shouldst  outlive  me,  live  mindful  of  our 
inward  attachment,  w^hich  will  both  be  useful  to  the 
Church  and  bring  us  abiding  fruit  in  heaven.  I  would 
not  that  thou  shouldst  weary  thyself  for  me.  My  breath 
is  weak,  and  I  hourly  look  for  it  to  leave  me  altogether. 
It  is  enough  that  I  live  and  die  in  Christ,  who  is  gain 
to  his  people  both  in  life  and  death.  Yet  once  more, 
farewell  to  thee  and  the  brethren." 

A  few  days  pass  by,  and  we  see  a  man  twenty  yeare 


I 


I 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  303 

the  senior  of  Calvin  entering  tlie  chamber  of  the  Re- 
former. His  hair  is  white  as  the  snows  of  the  mountain. 
His  silvery  beard  is  long  and  flowing.  His  beai'ing  is 
majestdc ;  his  eyes  are  undimmed  by  years,  and  whilst 
his  face  indicates  a  man  born  for  strife,  it  yet  wears  a 
benignant  expression,  and  there  is  somewhat  of  pensive- 
ness  in  the  tones  of  his  voice  as  he  addresses  witli  stronir 
aifection  his  dying  countryman.  It  is  William  Farel, 
now  of  Neufchatel,  the  brother  beloved  to  whom  Calvin 
had  written  but  a  little  while  before — the  man  who  had 
introduced  him  to  Geneva  twenty-three  years  ago. 

Very  touching  is  their  interview.  Their  souls  are 
knit  together  with  bands  of  iron.  They  embrace  each 
other  for  the  last  time,  look  at  each  other  through  their 
tears,  and  separate  to  meet  no  more  on  earth. 

Calvin^s  sufferings  increased,  but  he  bore  them  patient- 
ly. '^  Thou  crushest  me,  O  Lord  !  but  it  is  enough  for 
me  that  it  is  thy  hand.'^  To  the  sorrowing  friends  who 
gathered  about  liim  he  calmly  spoke  of  his  departure, 
and  then,  fixing  on  them  those  remarkable  eyes  which 
never  lost  their  brilliancy,  he  uttered  eloquent  and  hoi}' 
words  concerning  his  Christ  and  theirs  and  the  glorious 
rest  to  which  he  was  going. 

He  directed  that  his  worn  body  should  be  buried  h 
the  cemetery  of  Plain  Palais,  and  that  no  monument 
should  be  erected  over  his  grave,  the  place  of  his  sepul- 
chre to  be  unknown. 

Just  as  the  sun  went  down  behind  the  snow-capped 
Alps,  a  subdued  light  on  the  plain  and  deepening  shad- 
ows creeping  over  the  peaceful  lake,  he  closed  his  eyes 
and  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 

^'  Thus,''  said   Theodore    Beza,  who  had    watched  be- 


304  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

side  his  bed  aud  with  the  affectionateDess  of  a  son 
smoothed  his  dying  pillow, — '^  Thus  God  withdrew  into 
heaven  tliat  most  brilliant  light  which  was  a  lamp  of  the 
Church.  In  the  following  night  and  day  ther^  was 
immense  grief  and  lamentation  in  the  whole  city ;  for 
the  republic  had  lost  its  wisest  citizen,  the  Church  its 
faithful  shepherd,  the  Academy  an  incomparable  teacher, 
the  Reformation  its  main  support,  aud  all  their  best 
earthly  comforter  and  friend/' 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  Sabbath  the  remains  were 
placed  in  a  simple  coffin,  and  on  the  following  day  all 
that  was  left  of  John  Calvin  was  laid  in  the  grave.  The 
records  of  the  cemetery  mention  the  day  and  indicate 
somewhat  indefinitely  the  place  of  his  burial.  In  the 
shade  of  trees  is  a  small  stone  rising  a  few  inches  above 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  with  these  initials  only : 
^^  J.  C'  If  not  just  there,  yet  somewhere  near,  lies  the 
dust  of  the  great  Reformer  awaiting  the  long-promised 
day.  His  monument  is  broad  as  the  earth,  high  as 
heaven  and  enduring  as  eternity. 
X  Beza  has  said  of  Calvin's  life  "  that  it  was  a  beautiful 
example  of  piety  easy  to  calumniate,  but  difficult  to 
imitate."  Bullinger  declared,  "  There  is  no  man  of  whom 
it  has  been  said  with  equal  justice,  in  the  words  of  an 
apostle,  ^  he  endured,  as  seeing  Him  wdio  is  invisible.' " 
Even  Arminius  pronounced  him  ^'  an  incomparable  in- 
terpreter of  Scripture,"  and  Ernest  Renan,  an  enemy, 
says  of  him,  "  He  was  the  most  Christian  man  of  his 
generation." 

Thus  friends  and  foes  bow  to  the  majesty  of  his  name. 
He  was  wont  to  dwell  by  faith  in  God  above  the  storm 
and  the  cloud,  reverential,  trustful  and  unharmed  ;  grow- 


CALVIN  IN  GENEVA.  305 

ing  in  greatness  by  reason  of  his  association  with  Him 
who  alone  is  infinite;  and,  having  achieved  one  of  the 
greatest  works  ever  wrought  by  man  since  the  first 
apostles  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Christian  Church, 
he  went  to  his  glorious  reward,  where  for  three  centuries 
— which  seem  to  him  as  one  day,  so  swiftly  pass  the 
ages  of  that  endless  life — he  has  verified  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Christ,  and  welcomed  to  that  heavenly  joy  a  great 
nmltitude  who,  under  God,  owe  their  salvation  to  the 
converted  priest  of  Noyon,  concerning  whom  Pius  IV., 
hearing  of  his  death,  said,  "  If  I  had  such  servants  my 
dominions  would  extend  from  sea  to  sea.'^ 


CRANNER:  THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION, 
I 


I 


I 


"  Fear  not,  little  flock  ;  for  it  is  your  Father"  s  good  pleasure 
to  give  you  the  kingdom. '' 

Luke  12  .  32. 

"  The  Church,  as  Jerome  saith  of  Arcturus,  is  much  tossed, 
but  never  drowned.  God  is  in  the  midst  of  her,  she  shall  not 
be  moved :  God  shall  help  her  and  that  right  early.'' 

SWIXNOCK. 

"  The  visible  Church  hath  the  privilege  of  being  under  God's 
special  care  and  government ;  of  being  protected  and  preserved 
in  all  ages,  notwithstanding  the  oppositio?i  of  all  enemies.'' 
Larger  Catechism,  Ans.  to  Question  63. 


L 


CRANMEE:  THEEKfillSH  REFORMATION, 


TN  the  revival  of  apostolic  religion  in  Eugland  we 
-*-  find  no  central  figure.  No  one  man  rises  far  above 
the  common  level,  as  did  Luther  in  Germany,  Calvin  in 
Switzerland  and  Knox  in  Scotland — a  man  of  great  in- 
tellect, powerful  will  and  unfaltering  courage,  calculated 
to  mould  the  sentiments  of  a  natiort,  to  utilize  the  pow- 
er of  thrones  and  to  lead  on  an  invincible  host  from  con- 
quest to  greater  victory. 

God  accomplished  his  purposes  concerning  England 
through  a  variety  of  agencies.  He  made  the  passions 
of  wicked  men  to  serve  him,  and  the  ambitions  of  the 
worldly  great  to  aid  the  triumphs  of  truth.  On  the 
stage  where  was  enacted  the  great  drama  of  Reform  we 
see  humble  priests,  mitred  bishops  and  crowned  heads, 
with  here  and  there  a  figure  more  commanding  than  the 
rest  giving  direction  to  the  plot  and  intelligently  or  un- 
wittingly conducting  it  to  an  issue  which  brought  glory 
to  God  and  good  to  men. 

But  the  agent  gives  character  to  his  work.  The  Ref- 
ormation in  England  was  not  so  radical  and  beneficent 
as  the  Reformation  in  Scotland,  and  the  distinction  re- 
mains until  this  day.  Scotland  hated  the  very  appear- 
ance of  superstition,  and  sundered  every  tie  that  had 
bound  her  to  Rome.  England  suffered  some  of  the 
errors  of  the  papacy  to  linger  in   her  creed,  and   not  a 

309 


310  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

little  of  sensuousness  in  worship  to  mar  the  beauty  of 
her  ritual.  The  chair  of  St.  Peter  had  one  foot  on  the 
British  Isles  and  threw  its  shadow  over  the  land  of 
holy  martyrs. 

But  there  soon  appeared  two  distinct  elements  in  the 
English  Reformation,  the  hierarchical  and  the  evangeli- 
cal. The  first  made  much  of  the  Church,  apostolic  suc- 
cession and  the  sacraments ;  the  other  exalted  Christ,  a 
spiritual  worship  and  the  communion  of  saints.  The 
latter  has  preserved  the  truth  to  England,  and  so  pre- 
vented what  would  otherwise  have  been  an  inevitable 
and  early  result — relapse  to  popery,  the  second  condi- 
tion worse  than  the  first. 

lu  the  Protestant  city  of  Basle,  as  the  weeks  and 
mouths  advance,  there  sits  among  his  books  a  student  who 
is  a  contemporary  of  Luther.  The  morning  sun,  which 
sets  a  gleaming  crown  on  the  snow-capped  Matte rhorn 
ere  it  lights  the  valley  and  spreads  its  silvery  sheen  on 
the  Rhine,  wakes  the  student  to  his  loved  employ,  and 
when  the  lights  of  the  city  are  wellnigh  all  extinguished 
he  is  toiling  on. 

He  was  one  of  the  ripest  scholars  of  his  age,  and, 
though  timid  and  compromising,  better  fitted  for  the 
cloister  than  for  the  open  field  of  battle,  yet  he  per- 
formed an  important  part,  and  his  restoration  of  the 
New  Testament  to  its  purity  in  the  original  Greek, 
with  its  Latin  version  annexed,  was  a  long  step  in  the 
direction  of  Reform. 

It  is  Erasmus  of  whom  we  again  speak.  His  New 
Testament  found  its  way  to  the  universities  of  England, 
and  in  these  centres  of  influence,  where  each  scholar 
represented   a    thousand,    it   led    many   into   the  light. 


CRANMER:    THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.    311 

Because  of  this  the  Roman  pontiif  was  alarmed,  bish- 
ops and  priests  denounced  the  heretic,  monasteries  were 
all  aflame  with  holy  wrath.  The  Bible  is  slipping  from 
the  hands  of  the  priests,  and  soon,  translated  it  may  be 
into  the  language  of  the  common  people,  it  will  dig  the 
grave  of  the  papacy.  Romanists  fancy  they  see  winged 
armies  in  the  sky  mustering  for  battle.  The  earth,  once 
so  firm  under  their  tread,  grows  uneasy  and  yielding  as 
the  waves  of  the  sea.  Popery  dreads  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God,  for  that  will  hew 
down  the  trees  of  error  which  have  shut  out  the  light, 
and  open  a  highway  over  which  exiled  captives  may 
return  to  God. 

The  Greek  and  Latin  Testament  was  the  subject  of 
much  comment  among  the  learned.  In  the  universities 
of  Cambridge  and  Oxford  it  was  diligently  searched  by 
students  and  their  instructors.  As  young  men  walked 
arm  in  arm  along  the  galleries,  in  the  shaded  campus 
or  across  the  contiguous  meadows  they  talked  together 
of  the  words  and  works  of  Jesus.  One  of  these  young 
men  was  destined  to  exert  a  far-reaching  influence  in  the 
interests  of  the  Reformation. 

He  was  a  pale,  thoughtful  youth.  For  months  there 
seemed  some  shadow  on  his  spirit  which  deepened  as  the 
weeks  went  on.  He  had  been  to  the  confessional  and 
had  told  the  listening  priest  his  sad  story  of  sins  and  fore- 
bodings. He  had  gone  through  the  prescribed  ritual  of 
the  Church  and  had  performed  all  its  penances.  But  no 
relief  had  come.  He  heard  of  the  Greek  Testament 
of  Erasmus.  He  opened  it;  then  shut  it  with  trem- 
bling. Was  it  not  a  proscribed  book?  Did  not  his 
confessor  say  that  the  Greek  language  was  the  dialect 
21 


312  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

of  the  lost?  But  may  Dot  the  priest  be  an  intentional 
deceiver  ? 

The  wicked  imputation  increased  his  self-condemna- 
tion. Still,  he  would  know  whereof  this  forbidden 
volume  speaks.  There  is  a  crushing  load  of  guilt  on 
his  soul  as  he  opens  the  book  and  reads  :  '^  This  is  a 
faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of 
whom  I  am  chief.''  He  clasped  his  hands  over  the 
text  and  exclaimed,  ^'  What !  St.  Paul  the  chief  of 
sinners  !  and  yet  St.  Paul  is  sure  of  being  saved."  He 
looked  again  at  the  strange  words.  Has  he  read  aright? 
Even  so.  ''  O  assertion  of  St.  Paul,  how  sweet  art  thou 
to  my  soul !"  exclaimed  the  pale  student  as  the  soft  light 
of  heaven  rested  on  the  book  and  on  his  careworn  face. 
He  goes  away  with  a  new  hope  in  his  heart  and  a  new 
song  in  his  mouth,  saying,  "Jesus  Christ  saves;  yes, 
Jesus  Christ  saves."  The  young  man  was  Thomas 
Bilney,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more  hereafter. 

There  was  another  student,  whose  name  is  suggested 
by  that  of  Bilney.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Leicester  yeo- 
man, a  young  man  of  great  promise,  who  soon  pushed 
his  way  to  the  front  in  the  contest  for  collegiate  distinc- 
tiou,  and  was  at  the  same  time  a  devout  papist — Hugh 
Latimer.  Having  completed  his  classical  course,  he 
devoted  himself  to  theological  study.  Thomas  Aquinas 
and  Duns  Scotus  were  his  favorite  authors.  But  his 
attainments  in  divinity  were  not  such  as  might  have 
been  expected.  The  superstitious  practices  of  religion 
engaged  his  attention  and  the  divine  oracles  were  neg- 
lected. An  abject  slave,  he  bowed  the  knee  to  Rome 
and  hated  the  very  semblance  of  evangelical  religion. 


CRANMEB:    THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.    ;jl3 

His  oration  on  the  occasion  of  his  receiving  his  degree 
of  bachelor  of  divinity  was  a  bold  assault  on  Melauch- 
thon  and  the  principles  of  the  Keformation.  The 
papists  were  elated  at  his  eloquent  philippic  and  thought 
they  saw  in  him  a  brave  defender  of  their  faith. 

That  day  there  sat  in  the  audience  a  convert  to  Prot- 
estanisni  rejoicing  in  the  new-found  Christ,  who  regarded 
the  ambitious  orator  with  an  absorbing  interest.  He 
believed  \\\q  grace  of  God  would  yet  make  the  young 
man  a  noble  champion  for  the  truth,  building  up  what 
he  now  attempts  to  tear  down.  The  auditor  is  Bilney. 
He  sought  Latimer  in  the  retirement  of  his  study  and 
besought  him  to  hear  his  confession.  It  was  not  what 
the  confessor  expected.  Bilney  gives  an  account  of  his 
conversion — speaks  of  the  guilt  that  oppressed  him,  the 
night  of  despair  which  darkened  about  him,  his  mis- 
directed efforts  to  obtain  relief,  which  issued  in  disap- 
pointment only,  and  then  at  last  his  glad  surprise  when 
the  saying  of  St.  Paul  opened  to  him  the  gateway  to  a 
happy  life  ;  Christ  the  Sin-bearer  thereafter  his  only  and 
sufficient  Saviour.  Latimer's  interest  deepens  as  the 
story  of  religious  experience  advances,  and  then,  with 
Bilney  at  his  feet,  there  rises  to  his  view  a  nobler  sight, 
even  the  "Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin 
of  the  world." 

At  once  he  was  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  his  great 
unkindness  to  the  Saviour  in  having  assailed  him  in  tlie 
person  of  his  friends.  He  bowed  .his  head  and  wept. 
Bilney  said,  "Brother,  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet, 
tliey  shall  l)e  white  as  snow.''  Now  Latimer  feels  on 
his  head  the  droppings  of  Clirist's  cleansing  blood,  and 
hears  a  voice  in  the  silent  chambers  of  his  soul  declaring 


314  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

him  forgiven  and  saved  through  the  atonement  made  on 
Calvary.  He  becomes  a  preacher  of  the  holy  evangel, 
and  vies  with  Melanchthon  in  exalting  the  Son  of  God. 
We  shall  hear  more  of  Hugh  Latimer  by  and  by. 

Now  we  turn  to  a  third.  We  have  said  the  Reforma- 
tion in  England  had  no  central  figure.  But  if  by  any 
construction  such  a  claim  can  be  made — and  in  a  modifieil 
sense  we  may  accept  it — then  the  man  upon  whom  this 
distinction  rests  is  Thomas  Cranmer,  the  first  Protestant 
archbishop  of  England. 

He  was  twenty  years  the  junior  of  Latimer,  and  was 
born  six  years  after  Martin  Luther — July  2,  1489. 
When  fourteen  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  Cambridge. 
Here,  according  to  Strype,  '^  he  was  nursed  in  the  gross- 
est kind  of  sophistry,  logic,  philosophy  moral  and  nat- 
ural ;  not  in  the  text  of  the  old  philosophers,  but  chiefly 
in  the  dark  riddles  of  Duns  and  other  subtile  ques- 
tionists." 

When  twenty-two  years  of  age  he  turned  to  more 
profitable  studies.  The  writings  of  Fabre,  Erasmus  and 
Le  F6vre  shed  a  new  light  into  his  understanding.  He 
found  herein  statements  of  truth  which,  though  mingled 
with  errors,  were  helpful  to  his  inquiring  mind,  and  he 
groped  in  the  early  dawn  waiting  for  the  full-orbed  sun. 
"  What  says  the  word  of  God  ?"  he  asked.  "  Is  not  it 
the  only  and  infallible  source  of  light  ?"  For  three 
years  he  searched  the  Scriptures  which  testify  of  Christ. 
Still  he  saw  men  as  trees  walking,  but  his  vision  grew 
clearer  as  his  studies  advanced.  He  was  a  slow  leai'ner, 
always  cautious  in  receiving  the  opinions  of  others,  and 
not  always  firm  in  maintaining  his  own.  But  this  must 
be  said  of  him,  that  he  was  a  Biblicist  rather  than  a 


I 


CRA^'MER:   THE  ENGLTSII  REFORMATION.    31,') 

(jhurchman.  He  would  not  tie  his  faith  to  tlie  ip.se  divit 
of  the  pope  nor  accept  as  unquestionable  truth  whatever 
was  taught  by  the  theologians  of  Rome.  He  refused 
the  position  of  fellow  in  Wolsey's  college — a  distinction 
awarded  only  to  scholars  of  unusual  gifts  and  learning. 

When  thirty-two  years  of  age  he  received  the  degree 
of  doctor  of  divinity,  was  made  a  professor  in  the  uni- 
versity and  was  advanced  to  other  positions  of  honor 
and  trust. 

But  as  yet  Cranmer  was  not  fully  released  from  the 
trammels  of  the  papacy.  He  stood  on  middle  ground. 
He  wished  to  know  the  truth.  ''  Is  it  to  be  found/'  he 
inquired,  '^  in  Protestantism  or  in  popery  ?''  His  faith 
in  the  latter  was  shaken.  He  was  not  prepared  to  adopt 
the  principles  of  the  former.  So  his  mind  remained  in 
equilibrium.  But  at  length,  as  the  sequel  of  our  story 
will  show,  he  took  decided  ground  in  favor  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, became  its  chief  support  and  suffered  martyr- 
dom rather  than  deny  the  faith. 

Whilst  Cranmer  was  yet  connected  with  the  Univer- 
sity of  Cambridge,  Henry  VIII.  was  questioning  the 
lawfulness  of  his  marriage  to  Catherine  of  Arragon, 
who  had  been  the  wife  of  his  deceased  brother  Arthur. 
He  may  have  had  scruples  on  the  subject  before  his 
marriage,  and  at  the  same  time,  influenced  by  political 
considerations  as  well  as  by  aifection  for  the  daughter  of 
King  Ferdinand,  he  desired  to  consummate  the  relation. 
Pope  Julius  II.  was  favorably  disposed,  and  set  aside 
all  questions  of  conscience  and  the  prohibition  of  the 
canon  law  by  a  special  dispensation.  Henry's  children 
by  this  marriage  had  all  died  with  the  exception  of  the 
princess  Mary.     No  queen   had  ever  sat  on  the  throne 


316  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

of  Englaud.  Had  this  surviving  child  been  a  son,  the 
king's  scruples  respecting  his  marriage  might  not  have 
been  revived,  if  indeed  they  had  any  previous  existence. 

There  was  another  reason  why  Henry  desired  a 
divorce.  He  had  transferred  his  aifections  from  his 
queen  to  Anne  Boleyn,  a  young  maid  of  honor  whose 
personal  attractions  had  arrested  his  attention.  But  a 
divorce  requires  the  pope's  consent.  The  successor  of 
St.  Peter  is  an  ecclesiastical  ruler  whose  prerogatives  the 
crowned  heads  of  Europe  have  not  dared  to  disregard. 
Julius  II.  has  been  succeeded  by  Clement  VII.  Will 
this  head  of  the  Church  condemn  what  his  predecessor 
approved,  and  grant  the  divorce  for  which  this  royal 
suppliant  sues  ?  More  than  that :  will  he  venture  to 
displease  Charles  V.,  the  nephew  of  the  queen  ?  The 
time  had  been  when  kings  had  abjectly  bowed  in  the 
presence  of  Roman  pontiffs,  but  their  reverence  for 
the  successor  of  St.  Peter  was  beginning  to  decline.  It 
is  not  wise  to  put  the  devotion  of  princes  to  a  test  too 
severe  when  this  ghost  of  apostolic  faith  is  haunting 
alike  the  corridors  of  monasteries  and  the  ancient 
halls  of  learning.  Pope  Clement  is  perplexed.  The 
two  horns  of  a  dilemma  are  thrust  at  him.  Which  shall 
he  take?  While  he  hesitates,  Henry  employs  Cardinal 
Wolsey  to  represent  his  wishes  to  the  pope,  and  Wolsey 
solicits  the  aid  of  Cardinal  Campeggio.  They  urge 
the  divorce  by  considerations  of  State  and  Church 
policy. 

Wolsey  was  influenced  in  his  relations  to  the  matter 
by  his  hatred  of  Charles  V.,  the  nephew  of  Catherine, 
who  had  twice  defeated  his  election  to  the  pontificate. 
The   cardinal   supposed   that   the   separation    could   be 


CBANMER:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     :]17 

readily  secured,  and  so  he  would  accomplish  his  revenge 
on  Charles.  Louis  XII.  had  obtained  a  divorce  from 
his  queen,  the  noble  Joan,  simply  on  the  ground  that  he 
did  not  have  a  proper  affection  for  her,  and  it  cannot  be 
tliat  Clement  will  fail  to  recognize  the  reasonableness  of 
Wolsey's  argument  for  dissolving  the  marital  tie  in  this 
instance,  since  it  was  created  in  violation  of  the  common 
law  of  the  Church.  But  lie  failed,  and  in  failing  lost 
his  courage  aud  died  of  a  broken  heart.  He  was  an  un- 
witting instrument  in  bringing  about  the  Reformation. 
Dead  men  who  had  sought  to  gratify  personal  ambi- 
tion or  revenge  were  the  stepping-stones  by  which  the 
Church  ascended  to  the  throne  of  spiritual  power. 

The  question  involved  even  more  than  at  first  appear- 
ed. Had  Henry's  request  been  granted  he  would  doubt- 
less have  continued  a  devout  and  obedient  papist  and 
submitted  to  the  jurisdiction  of  Rome.  Besides,  he  was 
not  in  sympathy  with  the  Reformation.  For  evangelical 
religion  he  had  no  love,  and  of  a  spiritual  life  he  had  no 
experience.  He  had  secured  to  himself  the  title  of 
"Defender  of  the  Faith"  by  writing  a  book  against 
Lutheranism,  and  Rome  thought  to  find  in  him  a  loyal 
son  for  ever.  At  the  same  time,  he  is  determined  to 
gratify  his  passion,  cost  what  it  may.  He  will  have 
his  own  way,  and  thrust  even  the  pope  from  the  track 
of  his  unholy  purpose.  He  will  do  this,  not  because  he 
loves  Rome  less,  but  Anne  Boleyn  more. 

In  view  of  this  attitude  he  was  summoned  to  appear 
before  the  pope  in  person  or  by  proxy.  The  earl  of 
Wiltshire,  Anne  Boleyn's  father,  was  commissioned  to 
convey  to  Clement,  in  unequivocal  terms,  Henry's  re- 
fusal to  comply  with  the  demand,  either  in  person  or  by 


318  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

another.  When  the  earl  entered  the  audience-room  of 
the  pope,  His  Holiness  extended  to  him  the  opportunity 
of  kissing  his  foot.  The  gracious  oifer  was  treated  with 
indignation,  and  the  final  breach  between  the  Holy  See 
and  England  was  foreshadowed. 

Clement  decided  to  adhere  to  his  recognition  of  the 
idng's  marriage  to  Catherine.  He  was  quite  willing  to 
give  his  sanction  to  polygamy  in  a  dispensation  allowing 
Henry  to  take  Anne  Boleyn  as  a  second  wife,  but  he 
could  not  so  stultify  his  conscience,  forsooth  !  as  to  grant 
a  divorce  from  the  first.  The  king  then  determined  to 
renounce  the  jurisdiction  of  Rome,  to  separate  the 
Church  of  England  from  the  Holy  See  and  declare 
himself  its  only  spiritual  head.  The  reasons  which 
suggested  this  radical  course  were  doubtless  two :  one, 
to  make  Anne  Boleyn  his  queen ;  and  the  other,  to  in- 
crease his  own  power  as  a  ruler  by  destroying  that  of 
the  pope. 

It  is  in  connection  with  this  matter  of  Henry's  rela- 
tion to  Catherine  that  Cranmer  comes  into  prominent 
notice.  It  had  been  reported  to  the  king  that  this  doc- 
tor of  Cambridge  had  suggested  the  reference  of  this 
mooted  question  of  divorce  to  the  universities  of  Europe. 
In  Cranmer's  opinion,  the  appeal  to  the  pope  was  un- 
necessary— nay  more,  a  great  mistake.  This  judgment 
of  Cranmer's  was  pleasing  to  the  king,  and  he  determin- 
ed to  act  upon  it.  He  expected  thus  to  carry  his  point. 
On  the  14th  of  July,  1532,  at  Windsor  Castle,  he  held 
his  last  interview  with  Catherine  of  Arragon,  his  true 
and  devoted  wife  for  twenty  years.  On  the  14th  of  the 
following  November  he  was  married  to  Anne  Boleyn, 
and  eleven  weeks  later  the  divorce  was  publicly  decreed. 


CRANMER:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     ;Uy 

The  iiuligiiiition  of  the  pope  was  without  hounds. 
The  thunders  of  the  Vatican  rolled  across  the  Conti- 
nent, but  sank  to  feeble  wdiispers  ere  they  had  crossed 
the  Channel.  The  English  Parliament  declared  the 
king  and  his  successors  the  only  supreme  heads  of  tlie 
Church  of  England.  Thus  they  raised  tlie  wall  of 
separation  from  Rome,  and  papal  bulls  could  no  more 
batter  it  down  than  the  baying  of  a  dog  could  intimidate 
the  moon.  The  sentiment  of  Henry  might  have  been 
expressed  in  the  words  of  the  prince  of  English   poet*^ : 

**No  Italian  priest 
Shall  tithe  or  toll  in  our  dominions; 
So  tell  the  pope  :  all  reverence  set  apart 
To  him  or  his  usurped  authority." 

King  John,  Act  III.  sc.  1. 

Thomas  Cranmer  Is  now  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  occupies  in  Henry's  esteem  the  place  once  held  by 
Wolsey,  the  man  who  had  served  his  king  faithfully  and 
long,  his  failure  in  the  matter  of  the  divorce  the  cause 
of  his  fall ;  the  pliant  subject  who  had  always  souglit  to 
live  in  harmony  with  the  royal  will ;  who  had  built  a  great 
palace,  the  wonder  of  the  age,  then  gave  it  to  his  master, 
and  Avho  died  at  last  a  remorseful  death,  his  thoughts 
divided  between  the  ingratitude  of  Henry  and  the  dis- 
pleasure of  his  injured  Lord,  as  the  glory  of  this  world 
faded  from  sight  exclaiming  in  ever-memorable  words, 
"  Had  I  but  served  my  God  as  I  have  served  my  king, 
he  would  not  have  given  me  over  in  my  gray  hairs." 
Unhappy  Wolsey  !  Many  since  his  day,  as  before  it, 
have  found  it  a  vain  thing  to  put  confidence  in  princes. 

When  Cranmer  was  consecrated  archbishop  he  took 


320  EOMANISM  ASD   THE  REFORMERS. 

the  customary  oath  of  allegiance — first  to  the  pope,  and 
secondly  to  the  king.  But  he  placed  ou  record  a  protest, 
which  was  never  transmitted  to  the  pope,  in  which  he 
declared  his  superior  devotion  to  the  supremacy  of  the 
English  sovereign.  This  act  has  been  severely  con- 
demned as  involving  duplicity  if  not  absolute  dishonesty. 
Some  have  regarded  it  as  simply  an  interpretation  of  tlie 
oath  taken.  It  recognized  the  broader  compass  of  regal 
power  as  extending  both  to  the  Church  and  the  State. 
Henry  was  also  a  spiritual  ruler.  He  wore  the  papal 
crown  on  Ensrlish  soil.  Hence  Cranmer's  submission 
to  the  pope  must  be  modified  by  his  duty  to  the  king. 
This,  however,  is  not  a  satisfactory  explanation.  No 
doubt  there  was  an  element  of  weakness  in  Cranmer's 
course  and  a  fear  of  royal  displeasure.  He  w^as  more 
anxious  to  conciliate  Henry,  who  was  near  by,  than 
Clement,  beyond  the  Channel  and  the  Alps. 

But  observe  that  at  this  stage  the  Church  of  England 
continues  to  maintain  the  old  doctrinal  basis.  Cranmer 
holds  to  transubstantiation  ;  so  does  Henry,  so  do  the 
clergy  at  large.  There  is  no  Knox  to  confront  ignorance 
and  wickedness  in  kings'  houses,  to  confound  the  enemies 
of  the  faith  by  resistless  logic  and  vehement  eloquence, 
organizing  the  scattered  friends  of  the  Reformation  and 
encourao;ino^  the  waverins;  and   faint-hearted. 

Thomas  Cranmer  is  not  made  of  such  stern  stuff  as 
Latimer,  and  in  most  of  the  elements  of  a  Reformer  is 
inferior  to  Tyndale.  He  is  a  sincere  seeker  after  truth, 
but  is  slow  to  find  it,  and  wdien  he  has  found  it  he 
hesitates  to  make  it  known  to  others.  He  is  cautious  to 
a  fault,  and  aj)parently  endangers  the  Reformation  by 
his  timidity.     He  waits  for  the  people  to  overtake  him, 


CRANMER:    THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     321 

theu  gives  voice  to  their  common  convictions  of  truth 
and  duty.  He  did  not  shine  by  reason  of  any  moral 
greatness  either  of  courage  or  piety,  "  l)ut  was  well 
adapted  to  save  a  cause  in  difficult  circumstances  for  a 
more  favorable  time/^  Perhaps  the  Reformation  ad- 
vanced with  as  much  rapidity  as  was  consistent  with  its 
ultimate  triumph.  Should  an  engine  start  at  the  highest 
attainable  speed,  it  would  break  all  the  couplings  and 
leave  the  train  hopelessly  stationary  on  the  track.  Grad- 
ual acceleration  of  movement  would  secure  a  more  desir- 
able result. 

D'Aubigne's  judgment  of  Cranmer  is  alike  creditable 
to  the  historian  and  his  subject,  pronouncing  him  the 
right  man  for  England  at  the  tiuie  of  her  separation 
from  the  papacy  :  "  Notwithstanding  his  compromises, 
he  never  abandoned  the  great  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion ;  notwithstanding  his  concessions,  he  took  advan- 
tage of  every  opportunity  to  enc.'ourage  those  who  shared 
his  faith  to  march  toward  a  better  future." 

It  cost  men  something  in  those  days  to  be  Reformers. 
Cranmer  had  witnessed  martyrdoms  for  the  gospePs 
sake.  He  had  seen  the  pious  Bilney  led  to  the  stake, 
and,  although  the  martyr  died  with  the  radiance  of 
heaven  on  his  face  and  the  peace  of  heaven  in  his 
soul,  yet  the  archbishop  shrank  from  such  a  fate  ;  and 
perhaps  it  is  well  that  he  did  not  court  a  martyr's 
death. 

A  long  step  to^vard  the  Reformation  of  the  Church 
was  taken  when,  through  Cranmer's  influence,  the  Bible 
was  translated  and  given  to  the  people.  Previous  at- 
tempts to  do  this  had  failed.  The  first  translation  was 
the  work  of  William  Tyndale,  assisted  by  Miles  Cov- 


322  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

erdale,  afterward  bishop  of  Exeter.  Both  these  men 
were  eminently  zealous  for  the  gospel  of  Christ.  They 
were  persuaded  that  the  Reformation  of  the  Church  and 
the  salvation  of  the  world  could  be  eflPected  only  through 
the  word  of  God.  For  his  devotion  to  the  trutii  Tyn- 
dale  suffered  martyrdom  at  Vilvoorden,  near  Brussels. 
The  circulation  of  the  English  Bible  had  been  pre- 
vented by  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Bishop  Tonstall. 
Four  years  later  it  was  republished,  but  by  the  direc- 
tion of  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  England  was  burned. 
Now  Cranraer  makes  another  effort  to  secure  its  circu- 
lation. The  Catholic  bishops,  led  by  the  wicked  Gard- 
iner, resisted  the  project.  They  said,  ^'  The  teaching  of 
the  Church  is  sufficient :  we  must  prohibit  Tyndale's 
Testament  and  the  heretical  books  which  come  to  us 
from  beyond  the  sea.''  Ah  yes ;  so  it  has  ever  been  : 
popery  hates  the  light.  It  w^ould  keep  the  people  in 
ignorance,  for  so  only  can  it  keep  them  within  the  pale 
of  a  corrupt  Church. 

With  this  opposition  what  can  be  done  ?  Cranmer  m 
ready  for  compromise.  If  he  cannot  take  two  steps  for- 
ward, he  is  content  to  take  one.  It  is  agreed  that  the 
Bible  shall  be  printed  in  the  language  of  the  people, 
but  its  circulation  shall  be  confined  to  the  higher  and 
educated  classes.  Not  so  did  John  Knox  and  the  Scot- 
tish Parliament  decide,  for  they  gave  the  Bible  to  the 
peasant  as  well  as  to  the  master,  and  sent  it  out  on  its 
blessed  mission  through  every  city,  village  and  hamlet 
from  the  Cheviot  Hills  to  the  stormy  Minch  and  Pent- 
land  Frith.  But  Cranmer  hoped  for  greater  liberty  in 
some  better  day,  and  rejoiced  in  the  royal  sanction  given 
to  this  initial  step.     He  said  of  the  Bible,  ^'  It  is  the 


GBANMER:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     32:5 

balm  that  will  heal  our  wounds,  and  will  be  a  more  pre- 
cious jewel  in  our  houses  than  either  gold  or  silver." 
He  waits  the  Lord's  appointed  day. 

About  this  time  Henry  decreed  the  suppression  of  i\\\ 
monasteries  and  the  transfer  of  their  wealth  to  the  royal 
coffers.  The  Carthusian  monks  had  refused  to  recoo- 
nize  Henry's  supremacy.  They  maintained  that  tlie 
pontiff  whose  throne  was  on  the  Tiber  was  God's 
representative  on  the  earth  and  the  spiritual  head  of 
the  Church  throughout  the  world.  Thereupon  Lau- 
rancCj  Webster  and  Haughton,  priors  respectively  of 
Belleval,  Axholm  and  London  Charter-house,  were 
convicted  of  high  treason.  The  penalty  was  death. 
They  went  calmly  to  the  gallow^s,  protesting  to  the 
last  that  the  king  w^as  not  the  head  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  declaring  their  unwavering  devotion  to 
the  principles  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  But  one 
thing  was  settled  :  Henry  will  not  share  his  throne  and 
the  affections  of  his  people  with  the  pope  of  Rome. 
The  bishops  of  his  realm  nuist  acknowledge  him  head 
of  the  Church  as  he  is  of  the  State.  There  were  some 
who  would  not  admit  so  arrogant  a  claim. 

Then,  too,  there  were  those  in  the  Romanist  party 
who  continued  to  condemn  his  marriage  to  Anne  Boleyn. 
For  this  double  offence  he  determined  to  make  an  exam- 
ple of  nobler  victims  than  had  yet  been  offered.  Kence 
Bishop  Foster  and  Sir  Thomas  More — late  chancellor 
of  England,  who  had  already  been  sent  to  the  Tower — 
were  executed  as  a  '^  state  necessity."  It  was  a  wicked 
and  impolitic  deed.  It  shocked  the  nation  and  was  con- 
demned by  even  the  firmest  adherents  to  tlie  tlirone. 
Yet  the  popular  indignation  was  somewhat  modified  by 


324  ROMANISM  AND   THE  BEFORMERS. 

the  fact  that  Sir  Thomas  More  had  himself  severely 
persecuted  the  Protestants.  Noble  men,  whose  only 
offence  was  their  devotion  to  the  holy  evangel,  had 
been  burned  at  Smith  field,  praying  for  their  murderers 
with  their  dying  breath.  Now  he  who  had  defended 
the  Latin  faith  by  fire  and  sword  meets  a  similar 
fate. 

The  friends  of  the  Reformation  were  still  in  the  mi- 
nority. The  suppression  and  spoliation  of  the  monas- 
teries gave  offence  to  the  Romanists.  The  relaxation  of 
papal  domination  occasioned  alarm  and  led  to  rebellion. 
Then  the  king  thought  best  to  modify  his  policy,  and, 
the  Romanists,  being  in  the  ascendency,  secured  the 
adoption  of  the  famous  Six  Articles.  These  decreed — 1st. 
Transubstantiation,  or  the  change  of  the  bread  and  wine 
of  the  sacrament,  after  consecration,  into  the  actual  body 
and  blood  of  Christ :  this  is  also  called  the  doctrine  of 
the  real  presence.  2d.  That  the  communion  in  both 
kinds — that  is,  in  the  bread  and  wine — is  not  necessary, 
and  should  not  be  permitted  to  the  laity :  they  receive 
only  the  bread  or  wafer;  the  priest  communicates  in 
both  kinds.  3d.  The  perpetual  obligation  of  vows  of 
chastity.  4th.  Tlie  efficacy  of  private  masses  for  the 
souls  of  the  dead.  5th.  The  celibacy  of  the  clergy : 
])riests  are  under  no  circumstances  permitted  to  mar- 
ry. 6th.  The  value  of  auricular  confession.  Thus  was 
popery  striving  for  the  pre-eminence.  It  could  scarcely 
have  asked  more  except  a  recognition  of  the  supremacy 
of  the  pope.  This  of  course  Henry  would  resist  to  the 
last.  At  the  same  time  it  was  decreed  that  any  one  who 
opposed  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  should  be 
liable  to  death  by  burning,  and  should   forfeit  all  his 


QBANMER:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     325 

lauds  and  goods.  The  denial  of  any  of  the  other  articles 
should  be  deemed  felony  and  involve  the  forfeiture  of 
all  worldly  substance. 

These  articles  were  opposed  by  Archbishop  Cranmer 
for  three  consecutive  days  in  arguments  of  great  power, 
presented  in  terms  so  modest  and  grave  as  even  to  con- 
ciliate the  king  and  such  advocates  of  the  act  as  the 
dukes  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk.  The  papists  alleged  that 
Cranmer  opposed  the  articles  because  one  of  them  re- 
quired celibacy,  and  he  was  himself  married.  But  he 
had  other  reasons  and  graver  for  his  opposition,  and 
especially  did  he  dislike  the  severity  of  the  penalty 
which  the  act  prescribed.  This  deliverance  of  the 
Parliament  brought  him  great  sorrow,  but  he  yielded 
to  it.  He  sent  his  wife  to  Germany  and  went  quietly  on 
in  his  work. 

Meanwhile,  Henry  wields  a  sword  like  that  preserved 
in  Dumbarton  Castle — double-handed.  It  smites  on  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left.  The  papist  denies  the  su- 
premacy of  the  king  ;  the  Protestant  denies  transubstan- 
tiation  :  the  Tudor's  weapon  destroys  both.  Even  Cran- 
mer is  in  danger,  and  only  his  conciliatory  policy  and 
past  services  can  save  him. 

Here  let  it  be  observed  that  the  Reformation  in  Eng- 
land was  largely  occupied  with  the  modification  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  real  presence  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 
Transubstantiation,  rather  than  justification  by  faith,  as 
in  Germany,  engaged  attention.  The  Reform  in  Eng- 
land was  further  differentiated  from  the  Reform  in 
Scotland  by  the  principle  which  it  applied  to  church 
ceremonies.  The  Anglican  Church  held  that  it  was 
proper  to  employ  in  divine  worship  whatever  was  not 


326  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

prohibited  in  the  Scriptures.  The  Church  in  Scotland, 
as  did  a  large  part  of  the  continental  Church,  insisted 
upon  such  ordinances  and  ceremonies  only  as  were  direct- 
ly enjoined  in  the  word  of  God. 

In  England,  episcopal  ordination  was  preferred,  yet 
it  wa.:-  deemed  essential  by  but  few.  Cranmer  maintain- 
ed the  validity  of  the  orders  of  the  foreign  Protestant 
non-episcopal  churches.  He  expressed  the  opinion  that 
there  were  not  two  bishops  on  the  bench  or  one  clergy- 
man in  fifty  throughout  the  Anglican  Church  who 
would  deny  the  validity  of  the  order  of  those  continen- 
tal pastors  who  had  not  received  their  ordination  from 
episcopal  hands.  He  regarded  the  presbyter  as  the  peer 
of  the  bishop  in  relation  to  the  induction  into  holy 
orders.  The  ecclesiastics  who  insisted  upon  apostolic 
succession  were  in  the  minority  at  the  first,  but  the 
sentiments  they  held  ultimately  gained  the  ascendency. 
To  this  we  may  refer  hereafter. 

Here  w^e  pause  a  little  to  inquire  the  fate  of  Anne 
Boleyn.  Respecting  her  character  opposite  opinions 
have  been  entertained.  Froude  in  his  admiration  of 
Henry  YIII.  throws  a  shadow  over  the  memory  of  the 
queen  that  he  may  in  some  measure  justify  the  cruelty 
of  the  former.  He  maintains  that  the  youthful  Anne, 
who  had  spent  nine  years  in  the  French  court,  the  most 
profligate  in  Europe,  had  been  contaminated  by  it. 
On  the  other  hand.  Merle  d'Aubign^  held  that  she 
was  reared  in  the  household  of  the  pious  Margaret  of 
Angouleme,  a  friend  of  Calvin's  and  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

The  splendors  of  the  throne  attracted  her,  and  for  a 
time,  it  may  be,  she  wavered  in  her  devotion  to  Christ. 


CllANMER:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     :J27 

Her  piety  was  severely  tested.  But  it  reasserted  itself, 
and  by  subsequent  trials  was  purged.  ^'She  looked 
within  herself,  and  found  once  more,  as  queen,  that  for 
those  who  have  everything,  as  well  as  those  who  have 
nothing,  there  is  only  one  single  good — God  himself.'' 
She  was  in  sympathy  with  Protestantism ;  she  favored 
the  unlimited  circulation  of  the  Bible ;  she  had  the  con- 
fidence of  Tyndale  and  Craumer.  She  was  light-hearted, 
and  in  her  relations  to  the  king's  courtiers  was  not  al- 
ways guarded.  But  she  was  doubtless  as  pure-minded 
as  she  was  beautiful  in  person  and  unaffected  in  manner. 
But  the  mercurial  Henry,  who  had  sent  Catherine  of 
Arragon  into  disgrace  and  to  an  early  death,  transferred 
his  affections  from  his  second  queen  to  Jane  Seymour, 
and  Anne,  accused  of  crimes  of  which  she  had  never 
been  guilty,  was  arrested,  sent  to  the  Tower  and  after  a 
mock  trial  condemned  to  death.  When  she  received  her 
sentence  she  lifted  her  hands  to  heaven  and  said,  ^'  O 
Father !  O  Creator !  thou  who  art  the  way,  the  truth 
and  the  life,  thou  knowest  I  have  not  deserved  this 
ftite."  On  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  May,  1536,  she 
was  led  out  to  the  place  of  execution.  The  dukes  of 
Suffolk  and  Richmond,  the  lord  chancellor,  the  lord 
mayor  and  other  officials  were  there.  There  too  was 
the  executioner,  who  had  come  from  Calais,  holding 
his  gleaming  axe  as  Anne,  attended  by  four  maids  of 
honor,  ascended  the  scaffold.  A  more  beautiful  woman 
lived  not  in  the  English  realm,  and  that  day  her  person 
seemed  invested  with  unwonted  charms.  The  mother  of 
Elizabeth,  the  future  queen,  she  was  but  thirty  years  of 
age,  and  no  wonder  if  her  young  heart  clung  to  life  and 
to  her  child.     Henry  is  gone  miles  away  from  London, 

22 


328  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

yet  he  has  arranged  for  a  speedy  communication  of  her 
death.  Anne  addressed  those  who  were  to  witness  her 
execution.  "  I  am  not  come  here,"  she  said,  "  to  justify 
myself;  I  leave  my  justification  entirely  with  Christ,  in 
whom  I  put  my  trust.  I  will  accuse  no  man  nor  speak 
anything  of  that  whereof  I  am  accused.''  She  knelt  a 
few  moments  in  silent  prayer,  then  arose,  laid  her  head 
on  the  block,  an  expression  of  strange  sweetness  on  her 
face  and  on  her  lips  the  prayer,  "  O  Jesus,  receive  my 
soul.''  The  executioner's  axe  swept  down  and  her  head 
fell.  The  next  moment  an  artilleryman  on  the  wall 
fired  the  great  gun  which  was  to  carry  to  the  king  the 
tidings  of  Anne's  death. 

Henry  was  in  Epping  Forest  with  a  group  of  hunters 
about  him.  He  heard  the  report  of  the  gun  as  it  swept 
across  the  meadows  and  down  the  long  aisles  of  the  for- 
est. "  Ha  !  ha  !"  shouted  the  king,  "  the  deed  is  done  ! 
Uncouple  the  hounds  and  away." 

The  murky  clouds  which  overhung  the  old  Tower 
and  all  London  that  morning  were  pierced  by  one  Eye 
which  slumbers  not  nor  sleeps,  and  a.  record  of  that 
day's  doings  was  made  in  the  court  which  is  higher 
than  Henry's,  and  he  must  meet  it  when  his  career  of 
crime  is  ended. 

The  day  following  Anne's  death  Henry  was  married 
to  Jane  Seymour,  who  died  at  the  expiration  of  a  year, 
having  given  birth  to  a  son,  afterward  Edward  YI. 
Next  he  married  Anne  of  Cleves,  a  Protestant,  from 
vvhom  he  was  divorced  after  he  had  beheaded  Thomas 
Cromwell,  who  had  advised  the  marriage.  He  then 
married  the  guilty  and  unhappy  Catherine  How^ard, 
whom   he  soon  after  beheaded.     And  finally  he  chose 


CRANMER:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     329 

for  his  sixth  wife  Catherine  Parr,  the  virtuous  widow 
of  Lord  Latimer,  who  survived  liini. 

Of  the  latter  part  of  Heury's  hfe  w^e  can  speak  but 
briefly.  Through  the  influence  of  Craumer  important 
changes  were  made  in  the  canon  law  of  the  Church. 
Superstitions  which  had  long  been  practiced  were  abol- 
ished, such  as  creeping  to  the  cross  and  adoring  it,  the 
covering  of  images  in  the  time  of  Lent  and  representa- 
tions of  the  Trinity  which  received  idolatrous  worship. 
Other  changes  of  a  minor  kind  were  effected,  and  the 
Church  advanced  toward  the  more  scriptural  worship 
which  was  at  a  later  period  to  distinguish  the  Protest- 
ant from  the  papal  communion. 

After  a  most  eventful  career,  in  which  lights  and 
shadows  mingled,  Henry  VIII.  departed  this  life  Jan. 
28,  1547,  in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  reign  and  in  the 
fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  Thomas  Cranmer,  the  arch- 
bishop and  primate  of  England,  was  summoned  to  his 
bedside,  but  found  the  king  speechless.  Henry  pressed 
Cranmer's  hand  in  token  of  his  faith  in  God  througli 
Jesus  Christ.  A  theoretical  faith  we  doubt  not  he  had, 
but,  so  far  as  the  world  knows,  he  had  nothing  more. 
Possibly  he  applied  to  Christ  at  the  last  for  a  kingly 
pardon,  and  found  there  was  rain  enough  in  the  sweet 
heavens  to  make  even  a  hand  as  bloody  as  his  white  as 
snow.  We  cannot  tell.  There  is  a  day  coming  which 
shall  declare  his  doom. 

It  is  not  a  part  of  our  purpose  to  discuss  the  (charac- 
ter of  Henry.  One  has  said  that  but  for  his  matri- 
monial scandals  he  would  have  been  respected,  if  not 
beloved.  His  reign,  on  the  whole,  was  a  prosperous  one 
and  comparatively  peaceful.     Though  in  sympathies  and 


330  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

faith  a  Romanist,  yet  he  was  for  that  age  a  tolerant  ruler, 
and  in  his  day  were  laid  the  foundations  of  that  Protest- 
antism which  afterward  became  the  glory  and  defence  of 
England. 

Froude  is  lavish  in  his  praise  of  Henry,  although  he 
seems  to  distinguish  between  the  earlier  and  latter  parts 
of  his  reio^n.  He  thinks  that  if  the  kina:  had  died  at 
the  moment  when  the  divorce  from  Catherine  of  Arragon 
was  first  agitated,  his  loss  would  have  been  deplored  as 
one  of  the  heaviest  misfortunes  which  had  befallen  the 
country,  and  he  would  have  left  a  name  which  would 
have  taken  its  place  in  history  by  the  side  of  that  of  the 
Black  Prince  or  of  the  conqueror  of  Agincourt. 

On  the  other  hand,  Hume  in  his  terse  style,  whilst 
recognizing  Henry's  excellences,  does  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  "  a  catalogue  of  his  vices  would  comprehend  many 
of  the  worst  qualities  incident  to  human  nature — vio- 
lence, cruelty,  profusion,  rapacity,  injustice,  bigotry, 
presumption,  caprice ;"  and  yet  "  this  prince  not  only 
acquired  the  regard  of  his  subjects,  but  was  never  the 
object  of  their  hatred,  and  he  seems  even  in  some  de- 
gree to  have  possessed  their  love  and  affection  to  the 
last." 

Froude  and  Hume  may  take  extreme  views  of  his 
character,  and  the  truth  probably  lies  midway  between. 
We  may  not  denounce  Henry  as  the  worst  of  kings, 
neither  can  we  ardently  admire  nor  quite  forgive  the 
man  who  beheaded  Anne  Boleyn,  whom,  when  he  was 
dying,  it  is  alleged,  he  pronounced  innocent — who  sent 
Thomas  Cromwell  to  the  scaffold  and  grew  in  cruelty 
as  years  went  on.  The  standard  of  our  age  is  different 
from  the  standard  of  his,  but  even  in  those  rude  times 


CRANMEB:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     331 

natural  conscience,  though  darkened,  was  not  dead,  and 
Henry  was  not  ignorant  of  the  principles  of  moral hy 
as  set  forth  in  the  word  of  God.  He  knew  his  (hity, 
but  he  did  it  not.  He  loved  the  wrong,  and  he  pur- 
sued it. 

A  man  of  noble  presence,  like  Saul  among  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel ;  of  intellectual  abilities  equal  to  those  of 
Wolsey ;  an  eminent  linguist,  conversing  and  writing 
accurately  in  four  languages ;  a  mechanical  genius  of  no 
mean  rank;  familiar  with  the  science  of  medicine;  and 
withal  a  theologian  little  inferior  to  his  favorite  primate, 
— he  might  have  shone  in  history  as  the  Constantine 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  in  fact,  as  he  was  in  name, 
^Hhe  defender  of  the  faith''  whose  foundations  were 
laid  on  Calvary,  whose  dome  pierces  the  heavens.  Such 
as  he  was,  God  used  him  in  the  accomplishment  of 
beneficent  purposes.  As  he  makes  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  him,  so  he  makes  the  power  of  kings  subservient 
to  his  Church,  and  wicked  passions  and  wicked  men 
may  be  employed,  as  were  Noah's  carpenters,  in  build- 
ing the  ark  which  shall  save  the  faithful  and  come  to 
anchor  in  a  regenerated  world.  "  The  Lord  reignetli  ; 
let  the  earth  rejoice,  and  the  multitude  of  isles  be  glad 
thereof." 

Henry  had  indicated  the  order  of  the  royal  succession, 
and  Edward  VI.,  son  of  Jane  Seymour,  ascended  the 
thi'one  in  1547,  then  but  ten  years  of  age,  but  an  exam- 
ple of  "intellectual  precocity  seldom  surpassed."  At 
his  coronation  three  swords,  representing  the  three  king- 
doms, were  carried  in  the  regal  procession.  Edward 
said  there  should  be  a  fourth,  meaning  the  Bible,  which 
is  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.     "  Without  that,"  said  he, 


332  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

"  we  are  nothing  ;  we  can  do  nothing.  From  that  alone 
we  obtain  all  honor,  virtue,  grace,  salvation  and  what- 
soever we  have  of  divine  strength.'^ 

Edward  Seymour,  earl  of  Hertford,  the  king's  uncle, 
was  appointed  lord  protector  and  made  duke  of  Somer- 
set. The  Protector  was  a  Protestant,  and  the  Reformers 
took  courage.  Europe  contributed  some  of  its  leading 
minds,  in  sympathy  with  the  Reformation,  to  the  uni- 
versities of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Supported  by 
these  and  the  power  of  the  throne,  Cranmer  took  long 
strides  in  the  w^ork  of  Reform.  Ridley  also  came  to  the 
primate's  aid.     And  who  was  Ridley  ? 

He  fills  an  honorable  place  in  the  history  of  that  age. 
Born  in  1500,  educated  at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  at 
Pembroke  Hall  at  Cambridge,  and  subsequently  in  the 
higher  schools  of  Paris  and  Louvain,  he  soon  became 
one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  Protestant  Reform.  He 
boldly  denounced  the  errors  of  Rome,  w^as  made  bishop 
of  Rochester  by  Henry  YIII.,  and  after  the  removal 
of  Bonner  was  appointed  bishop  of  London  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  VI.  Ridley  was  one  of  the  most  forcible 
preachers  of  the  day.  The  people  flocked  to  hear  him. 
His  sermons  were  fragrant  with  the  gospel  of  Jesus, 
sweet  as  the  singing  of  angels  and  resistless  as  the  light. 
Of  this  man,  at  whose  feet  King  Edward  loved  to  sit, 
we  shall  speak  more  fully  at  another  time.  Suffice  it 
now  to  say  that  he  labored  with  Cranmer  in  the  interests 
of  Protestantism,  and  they  rejoiced  together  in  its  early 
ascendency  throughout  the  British  realm. 

The  famous  Six  Articles  were  repealed.  In  1552 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  prepared  by  Cranmer, 
was  adopted,  and  the  Forty-two  Articles  were  passed. 


CBANMER:   THE  ENGLISH  REFORMATION.     33o 

Transiibstantiation,  prayers  for  the  dead,  auricular  con- 
fession and  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  were  set  aside. 
The  communion  was  given  to  the  laity  in  both  kinds ; 
the  Church  of  England,  with  a  confession  of  faith 
and  an  eminently  scriptural  liturgy,  has  at  last  sepa- 
rated herself  from  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  witli 
an  independent  existence,  purged  from  the  corruptions 
which  had  long  deformed  her  ritual,  a  better  day  has 
dawned  on  England  ;  which,  though  it  may  now  and 
then  be  obscured  by  clouds,  shall  never  have  a  setting. 

This  advance  was  made  with  all  the  caution  which 
habitually  marked  the  policy  of  Cranmer.  But  it  was 
earnestly  opposed.  Gardiner  and  Bonner  resisted  every 
change  with  all  the  power  of  their  mighty  influence 
and  all  the  violence  of  their  malignant  natures.  The 
seizure  of  the  abbey  lands,  which  accrued  largely  to  the 
benefit  of  a  few,  among  whom  was  the  duke  of  Somerset, 
brought  troublous  times.  The  Romanists  were  in  arms. 
Somerset  fell,  and  Northumberland  took  his  place. 

A  little  later  there  came  a  blow  to  the  Reformation 
from  which  it  did  not  soon  recover.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen,  in  the  year  1553,  Edward  VI.  died,  and  shad- 
ows deep  and  dark  gathered  over  the  prospects  of  the 
Anglican  Church.  Bloody  Mary  ascended  the  throne. 
There  are  rejoicings  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  weeping 
and  bloodshedding  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames.  Julius 
III.  now  thinks  to  regain  the  power  in  the  British  realm 
which  Clement  YIL  lost. 

The  primate  of  England  sees  a  storm  gathering  and 
seeks  shelter.  Strange  sounds  come  from  the  Continent, 
as  of  armies  marshaling  for  the  fight.  The  very  waves 
of  the  sea  as  they  break  on  the  shore  seem  to   sing  a 


334  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

mouruful  requiem,  aud  some  imagine  they  see  the  glare 
of  funeral  piles  illumine  the  darkened  air,  as  if  a  Nero 
had  mounted  the  throne  and  an  army  of  Beatous  were 
gathering  fagots  to  burn  the  enemies  of  Rome.  These 
fears  were  not  ungrounded.     But  we  will  not  anticipate. 

This  much  is  certain  :  God  reigns  and  Christ  is  King 
in  Zion.  What  if  ^'  the  kings  of  the  earth  set  them- 
selves, and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together,  against  the 
Lord,  and  against  his  anointed,  saying,  Let  us  break  their 
bands  asunder,  and  cast  away  their  cords  from  us  ?  He 
that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh ;  the  Lord  shall 
have  them  in  derision." 

Like  streams  which  disappear  from  view  and  then 
emerge  from  their  subterranean  channels  in  broader 
currents  and  a  deeper  flow,  so  the  Reformation,  seeming- 
ly buried  for  a  time,  shall  rise  on  some  other  day  to 
claim  all  England  as  its  own. 

Ah  yes  !  Babylon,  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  shall  be 
destroyed,  and  Jesus  shall  reign  from  the  Channel  to 
Cape  Wrath.  Nay,  he  shall  receive  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth  for  his  possession.  Happy  are  all  they 
who  serve  him.  Happy  the  people  who,  with  hands 
cleansed  by  his  blood,  lift  the  diadem  to  his  thorn- 
scan'ed  brow  and  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 


"n. 


i 


I 


CRi^NMER:    PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM. 


''Quenched  the  violence  of  fire ,  .  .  .  out  of  weak?iess  were 
made  strong.'' 

The  Chiuxh  ''has  ofteti  been  refined  by  the  most  violent 
pcj'secntions  of  her  enemies.  She  has  not  only  survived  the 
fiaines  kindled  agai?ist  her,  but,  as  refined  gold  comes  out 
more  beautiful  from  the  furnace,  left  her  dross  behind  her, 
and  has  been  wrought  into  a  7nore  beautiful  frame  by  the  hand 
of  her  g 7'eat  Artificer. ' ' 

Charnock. 


"  God.  in  his  ordinary  providence,  maketh  use  of  means, 
yet  is  free  to  work  without,  above  and  against  them,  at  his 
pleasure. ' ' 

Confession  of  Faith,  chap.  v.  sec.  iii. 


CRANMER:  PERSECUTION  AND  MAR- 
TYRDOM. 


rriHE  reigD  of  Edward  VI.  marked  an  interesting 
J-  epoch  in  the  English  Reformation.  It  was  tlie 
morning  of  a  long-looked-for  day.  The  snn  which  had 
emerged  from  the  bosom  of  night  had  risen  above  the 
hills.  The  mists  had  lifted  and  passed  away.  The 
incense  of  psalms  ascended  through  the  still  air,  and 
was  met  by  benedictions  descending  from  heaven.  But 
the  promise  of  the  morning  is  not  always  fulfilled. 
The  sun  may  soon  be  obscured  by  clouds,  and  the  calm 
be  succeeded  by  storms.  x\nd  so  in  the  higlier  sphere 
of  spiritual  life  there  are  what  we  call  disappointments 
and  great  afflictions. 

But  there  is  a  needs-be  for  these.  They  are  blessings, 
though  for  a  time  disguised.  The  storm  purifies  the 
air  and  leaves  a  greener  earth  behind  it.  Adversity 
drives  us  to  the  shelter  of  the  divine  presence,  where 
we  learn  needful  lessons  and  go  thence  to  nobler  and 
more  effective  service. 

The  good  King  Edward  died  just  as  the  Reformation 
had  gained  the  ascendency.  His  demise  put  every  in- 
terest of  the  Reform  in  jeopardy.  It  was  preceded  by 
ominous  signs  and  alarming  events.  Hyde  Park  in 
London  and  the    meadows  beyond  were   covered  with 

337 


338  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

hall  red  as  blood.  The  Thames  seemed  to  have  left  its 
old  channel,  and  the  streets  from  St.  Paul's  church  to 
Westminster  Abbey  suggested  the  Grand  Canal  and 
water-paths  of  Venice.  Midnight  darkness  anticipated 
tlie  going  down  of  the  sun,  and  was  made  more  appar- 
ent by  the  flashes  of  lightning  that  appalled  the  stout- 
hearted, unaccustomed  to  fear. 

What  does  all  this  mean  ?  The  superstitious  thought 
it  expressed  God's  hatred  of  heresy  and  his  determina- 
tion to  destroy  it.  Others  thought  it  was  a  premonition 
of  dark  days  and  fearful  carnage  which  would  try  the 
faith  of  tlie  Protestant  Church  and  set  back  the  work 
of  Reform  so  auspiciously  begun. 

Now  that  Edward  is  dead  there  comes  the  question 
of  succession.  Although  Henry  VIII.  had  obtained  a 
divorce  from  Catherine  of  Arrao;on  on  the  alleo-ed 
ground  of  illegitimate  marriage,  yet  he  had  subsequently 
indicated  his  wish,  in  the  event  of  Edward's  death,  that 
her  daughter,  the  princess  Mary,  should  succeed  to  the 
throne.  When  Edward's  death  seemed  probable  the 
papists  felt  assured  of  Mary's  accession,  and  the  Protest- 
ants feared  it.  But  there  were  many  who  held  that  her 
title  to  the  succession  was  not  legal.  The  dukes  of 
Suffolk  and  Northumberland  urged  the  claims  of  Lady 
Jane  Grey,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Suffolk  and  the  wife 
of  Lord  Guilford  Dudley,  the  fourth  son  of  Northum- 
berland. Cranmer  did  the  same,  and  for  this  offence 
Mary  never  forgave  him. 

No  woman  had  ever  occupied  the  throne  of  England. 
Northumberland  thought  to  take  advantage  of  the 
prejudice  against  a  female  sovereign,  proclaim  Lady 
Jane  queen  and  put  the  reigns  of  government  in  the 


CRANMER:   PERSECUTION  AND   MARTYRDOM.      IMV3 

liands  of  Lord  Dudley.  Lady  Jane  had  great  abilities 
and  greater  virtues.  In  learning  she  was  even  superior 
to  Edward,  who  was  about  her  own  age,  and  wifth  whom 
she  had  been  educated  with  the  most  scrupulous  care. 
Proficient  in  her  own  language,  she  also  spoke  and 
wrote  with  equal  accuracy  and  readiness  the  French,  Ital- 
ian, Latin  and  Greek.  She  was  also  familiar  with  the 
Hebrew,  Chaldean  and  Arabic.  She  was  versed  in  the 
philosophy  of  Athens,  and  preferred  Plato  and  Demos- 
thenes to  the  pleasures  of  the  park.  She  was  at  the 
same  time  fond  of  music,  played  skillfully  on  various 
instruments  and  sang  with  a  sweetness  of  voice  and  a 
charm  of  expression  rarely  equaled.  And  all  this  when 
she  was  but  sixteen  years  of  age  and  the  bride  of  Lord 
Dudley.  But  her  crowning  excellence  was  her  piety. 
She  had  found  Christ  in  his  woixi,  and  early  gave  her 
heart  to  him  in  a  devotion  which  never  wavered. 

For  her  the  throne  had  no  attractions.  When  it  was 
suggested  to  her  that  she  might  succeed  Edward  as  the 
sovereign  of  England,  she  declared  her  preference  for 
private  life.  When  Northumberland  pressed  her  to 
accept  the  crown,  she  thrust  it  from  her^^^  A  crown," 
she  said,  "which  hath  been  violently  wrested  from 
Catherine  of  Arragon,  made  more  unfortunate  by  the 
punishment  of  Anne  Boleyn  and  others  that  wore  it 
after  her;  and  wherefore  should  you  have  me  add  my 
blood  to  theirs,  and  be  the  third  victim  from  whom 
this  fatal  crown  may  be  ravished  with  the  head  that 
wears  it?" 

But  the  importunity  of  injudicious  friends  prevailed, 
and  she  went  to  the  Tower,  from  w^hence  she  was  i)ro- 
claimed   queen.     For  ten  days  only  did  she  wear  the 


340  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

crowD.  Her  adherents  were  far  outnumbered  by  Mary's, 
and  amid  warlike  demonstrations  Lady  Jane  was  dis- 
placed by  the  daughter  of  the  divorced  Catherine. 
Mary's  ascension  to  the  throne  being  announced  on 
Cheapside,  the  people  shouted,  ^'  God  save  the  queen  !" 
and  the  bells  of  St.  Paul's  church  in  joyful  pealings 
sent  the  tidings  far  over  London,  whilst  even  Protest- 
ants, to  whom  Mary  had  made  pledges  of  toleration, 
rejoiced  in  her  enthronement. 

When  intelligence  of  all  this  was  conveyed  to  Lady 
Jane  she  answered,  "  I  better  brook  this  message  than 
that  of  my  advancement  to  royalty."  And  what  fol- 
lowed? Lady  Jane's  palace  became  her  prison.  She 
was  adjudged  guilty  of  high  treason  and  condemned  to 
death.  The  months  went  by,  and  at  last  this  beautiful 
and  godly  woman,  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  after  the 
execution  of  her  husband  and  of  others  who  had  pro- 
claimed her  queen,  was  led  out  to  execution  on  Tower 
Hill.  Having  reached  the  scaffold,  she  said  to  the  lords 
and  other  spectators,  ^'  I  beseech  you  all  to  bear  me  wit- 
ness that  I  here  die  a  true  Christian  woman,  professing 
and  avouching  from  my  soul  that  I  trust  to  be  saved  by 
the  blood,  passion  and  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  my  Sa- 
viour only,  and  by  no  other  means,  casting  far  behind 
me  all  the  works  and  merits  of  mine  own  actions,  as 
things  so  short  of  the  true  duty  I  owe  that  I  quake  to 
think  how  much  they  may  stand  against  me."  She 
then  knelt  and  repeated  the  fifty-first  Psalm.  After- 
ward she  put  i\\Q  bandage  over  her  eyes  and  felt  for  the 
block,  saying,  "What  shall  I  do?  where  is  it?"  When 
conducted  to  the  block  she  laid  her  head  upon  it  and 
said,  '^Lord,   into  thine  hands  I  commend   my  spirit." 


GRANMER-  PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.     311 

The  axe  descended,  and  the  next  moment  a  gate  nnseen 
by  mortal  eyes  swung  noiselessly  on  its  hinges  of  gold, 
and  Lady  Jane  Grey,  entering  the  metropolis  of  the 
universe,  ascended  a  throne  which  shall  stand  for  ever. 

Thus  the  reign  of  Mary  was  inaugurated  with  the 
shedding  of  blood.  Those  who  died  on  Tower  Hill 
were  charged  with  high  treason,  but  this  was  not  their 
only  offence ;  and  it  was  not  because  of  this  at  all  that 
their  execution  was  urged  by  Gardiner  and  others.  It 
was  because  they  were  Protestants.  They  denied  the 
supremacy  of  the  pope.  They  rejected  the  real  presence 
or  treated  it  with  indifference,  and  were  chargeable  with 
other  departures  from  the  Roman  faith. 

Mary  had  promised  to  continue  to  the  Protestants 
the  religious  liberties  they  had  enjoyed  under  Edward, 
but  no  sooner  had  she  reached  the  throne  than  she 
violated  her  solemn  pledge.  She  determined  to  re- 
establish Pomanism,  cost  what  it  might.  She  boasted 
herself  "a  virgin  sent  from  God  to  ride  and  tame  the 
people  of  England.^'  Gardiner  was  a])[)ointed  lord  chan- 
cellor. Protestant  bishops  were  ejected  from  their  sees 
for  heresy  and  wedlock,  and  their  places  were  filled  by 
pajiists.  The  marriages  of  the  inferior  clergy  were 
pronounced  illegal  and  their  children  bastards. 

It  was  thought  that  by  severe  persecutions,  rapidly 
multiplied,  the  Protestants  would  be  driven  into  the 
Romish  fold.  Certainly,  they  would  not  give  all  they 
had,  even  life  itself,  for  their  groundless  faith.  Let 
prisons  open  and  holocausts  be  kindled,  and  heresy  will 
die  before  a  twelvemonth  is  passed.  At  any  rate,  Mary 
will  make  the  experiment.  The  so-called  Holy  Catholic 
Church— which  the  Church  of  Rome  was  not  and  never 


342  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

had  been — bids  h(.r  Godspeed  in  her  work  of  demolition 
and  death. 

Paul  IV.,  th^  viceregent  of  God,  spread  the  shield 
of  St.  Peter  over  the  English  throne  and  hurled  anath- 
emas at  the  heads  of  all  heretics.  The  leaders  of  the 
Reformation  were  threatened  and  then  imprisoned. 
Many  fled  to  the  land  of  John  Knox,  and  found  com- 
parative quiet  in  its  cities  or  in  the  seclusion  of  the 
Grampian  Hills.  Some  went  to  the  Continent,  and  at 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  at  Geneva,  where  Calvin  still 
taught,  at  Strassburg  and  Basle  these  exiles  for  right- 
eousness' sake  dwelt  in  peace. 

Cranmer  was  urged  to  flee,  but  he  determined  to  hold 
his  ground.  Perhaps  he  thought  Mary  was  not  forget- 
ful of  services  he  had  rendered  her  when  in  Henry's 
day  he  had  shielded  her  from  her  father's  wrath.  But 
he  was  imprisoned  at  Oxford  jail,  then  deposed  from 
his  archbishopric  and  succeeded  by  Reginald  Pole. 
Submission  to  the  Romish  faith  was  required  of  all 
classes ;  to  refuse  it  was  to  suffer,  and  perchance  to  die. 

Cardinal  Pole,  the  pope's  legate,  professed  to  prefer 
milder  means,  hoping  thus  to  win  the  erring  back  to  the 
faith  and  avoid  the  reaction  severity  might  produce. 
Gardiner  insisted  upon  immediate  resort  to  the  stake 
and  the  headman's  axe.  Mary  approved  the  chancellor's 
decision. 

Then  the  Smithfield  fires  were  kindled.  John  Rogers,, 
who  has  been  styled  the  proto-martyr  of  the  Marian 
persecution,  was  burned  February  4,  1555.  He  had 
been  educated  at  Cambridge,  then  went  to  Antwerp  in 
the  capacity  of  a  religious  teacher.  There  he  met 
Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  and  through  their  instructions 


CRANMER-   PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.     3  t3 

came  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth.  He  assisted  these 
exiled  Protestauts  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into 
English,  and  afterward  returned  to  his  own  country. 
Edward  Yl.  made  him  a  prebend  of  St.  Paul's,  and 
later  he  was  appointed  vicar  of  St.  Sepulchre's  chunih. 
After  Mary's  accession  he  was  charged  with  liaving 
uttered  heretical  sentiments  in  a  sermon  preached  at  St. 
Paul's  cross,  and  was  sent  to  Newgate  prison.  The 
lord  chancellor,  Gardiner,  demanded  a  full  expression 
of  his  views,  and  especially  as  to  the  supremacy  of  the 
pope.  Rogers  answered,  "  I  know  none  other  head  but 
Christ  of  his  Catholic  Church,  neither  will  I  acknowl- 
edge the  bishop  of  Rome  to  have  any  more  authority 
than  any  other  bishop  hath  by  the  word  of  God  and  by 
the  doctrine  of  the  old  and  pure  Catholic  Church  four 
hundred  years  after  Christ."  Such  sentiments  deserved 
death.  Cursed  be  the  man  who  denies  the  supremacy 
of  the  Roman  pontiif!  Rogers  lingered  in  Newgate 
prison  with  common  thieves  until  the  day  appointed 
for  his  execution.  Then  he  was  led  to  Smithfield  and 
bound  to  the  stake.  He  endured  the  suffering  of  flames 
without  a  murmur,  verifying  the  promise  of  his  Lord  : 
"As  thy  days  thy  strength  shall  be."  He  lifted  his 
hands  toward  heaven  and  calmly  waited  his  deliverance. 
They  who  stood  by  saw  only  a  chariot  of  fire  bearing 
the  spirit  of  the  martyr  upward,  but  there  came  another 
like  tlie  Tishbite's,  to  meet  it,  and  along  a  path  that 
brightened  as  it  advanced  the  holy  martyr  ascended  to 
glory.  "  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the  death 
of  his  saints." 

A  little  later  John  Bradford  was  condemned  for  deny- 
ing the  d(^ctrine  of  transubstantiation,  and  sent  to  the 


344  BOMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Tower,  afterward  to  the  Compter  iu  the  Poultry,  and 
then  to  Newgate.  At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
his  death  Smithfield  was  crowded  with  those  who  wished 
to  look  once  more  on  the  martyr's  face  and  tell  him  how 
much  they  loved  him.  Five  hours  they  waited  for  his 
coming.  He  was  bound  to  the  stake,  and  John  Leaf,  a 
young  man,  with  him.  He  asked  the  people  to  help 
him  with  their  prayers.  He  spake  words  of  trust  and 
declared  his  forgiveness  of  his  murderers.  Then  he  ad- 
dressed his  fellow-martyr,  saying,  ^'  Be  of  good  comfort, 
brother,  for  we  shall  have  a  merry  supper  with  the  Lord 
to-night."  So  died  holy  John  Bradford.  The  influence 
of  his  life  shall  bless  the  earth  and  enrich  heaven,  and 
his  name  shall  live  for  ever. 

But  time  would  fail  us  to  speak  of  all  the  men  and 
women  who  during  the  reign  of  Bloody  Mary  died  in 
the  flames  at  Smithfield.  And  for  what?  Because  they 
denied  the  supremacy  of  the  pope  and  the  real  presence. 
They  were  Protestants,  and  not  papists.  Liberty  of 
conscience  was  denied  them.  They  were  required  to 
reject  the  testimony  of  the  word  of  God  to  the  headship 
of  Christ,  the  sufficiency  of  his  sacrifice  and  the  simpli- 
city of  his  sacrament — or  burn.  They  preferred  the  lat- 
ter alternative.  Their  Lord  died  on  the  cross  for  them  ; 
they  would  die  at  the  stake  for  him.  They  went  out  of 
the  world  along  a  path  red  with  blood,  but  saw  there 
the  prints  of  their  Saviour's  feet,  and  were  glad  to  be 
conformed  to  his  painful  death.  They  shall  shine  as 
the  stars  for  ever  and  for  ever. 

We  need  not  dwell  on  the  restoration  of  the  papal 
religion  in  England.  The  English  Parliament  had 
declared  that  the  alienation  of  the  abbey  lands  should 


CRANMER     PERSECUTION  AND   MARTYRDOM.     345 

remain.  They  cared  more  for  mouey  and  estates  than 
for  religion,  and  having  secured  the  former  by  making 
its  retention  a  condition  of  the  restoration  of  papacy, 
they  were  ready  to  yield  submission  in  all  other  matters. 
The  dogma  of  transubstantiation  was  accepted.  The 
mass  for  the  dead  was  celebrated  with  great  solemnity. 
The  celibacy  of  the  clergy  was  required.  All  that  dis- 
tinguished the  Roman  from  the  Protestant  religion  was 
revived.  Proclamations  were  issued  against  heretics  and 
heretical  books.  A  system  of  espionage  was  established 
by  which  offenders  against  the  Romish  faith  might  be 
discovered  and  brought  to  early  trial.  It  was  ordered 
that  all  heretical  writings  should  be  burned.  Any  per- 
sons who  secreted  and  read  such  writings  or  exhibited 
them  to  others  were  to  be  accounted  rebels  "  and  with- 
out any  further  delay  to  be  executed  by  martial  law." 
Mary  was  determined  to  put  down,  if  possible,  all 
heresy  and  establish  popery  on  a  foundation  that  could 
never  be  moved.  But  she  was  perpetually  disturbed 
with  fears.  What  if  Elizabeth  should  succeed  her  on 
the  throne — Elizabeth  the  heretic,  the  daughter  of  the 
hated  Anne  Boleyn,  for  whom  Henry  had  sacrificed  her 
mother,  ever  a  loyal  papist  ?  Besides,  the  relations  of 
England  to  Paul  IV.  were  not  the  most  harmonious. 
He  continued  to  demand  the  restoration  of  the  posses- 
sions of  the  Church.  He  charged  the  English  nation 
with  sacrilege,  and  declared  the  persons  who  retained 
property  which  belonged  to  God  to  be  in  a  state  of 
"  eternal  damnation.'^  There  was  guilt  at  the  door  of 
the  Parliament.  There  was  guilt  in  the  Church  that 
winked  at  this  iniquity.  There  was  guilt  even  on  the 
throne,  which  was  too  weak  to  correct  the  wrong. 


316  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Mary  was  unhappy.  She  could  not  control  the  nation. 
As  a  Romanist  she  recognized  the  justice  of  the  pontiff's 
claim,  but  the  Parliament  was  unyielding  in  its  opposi- 
tion to  his  demand.  Then  she  determined  to  build  mon- 
asteries at  her  own  expense.  The  Grey  Friars,  the  Car- 
thusians and  the  Knights  of  St.  John  were  restored  to 
their  '^  rookeries."  But  this  was  a  poor  amend  for  the 
national  wrong.  Then,  to  increase  her  wretchedness, 
Philip,  her  husband,  neglected  her.  The  more  she 
sued  for  his  affections,  the  more  heartless  he  grew. 
Her  religion  brought  her  no  solace.  She  turned  her 
tearful  eyes  toward  heaven,  but  the  dome  of  her  false 
faith,  decked  with  images  of  saints  and  the  holy  Virgin, 
and,  high  above  all,  an  arrogant  and  cruel  pontiff,  inter- 
cepted a  view  of  a  happier  life.  So  she  turned  to  per- 
secution. She  will  serve  the  Church,  die  in  the  faith 
and  leave  her  soul  with  God. 

She  determines  that  Cranmer  shall  be  the  next  to  suf- 
fer. Already  imprisoned  in  Oxford,  he  is  summoned  to 
Rome  for  trial.  But  the  doors  of  his  prison  remain 
bolted  and  barred,  and  he  cannot  respond  to  the 
papal  citation  if  he  would :  he  is  pronounced  con- 
tumacious and  condemned  to  death. 

And  now  is  enacted  a  species  of  cruelty  for  which  we 
can  find  no  name.  Mary  is  resolved  that  Cranmer  shall 
die,  but  she  will  take  advantage  of  his  constitutional 
weakness,  and  secure,  if  possible,  a  denial  of  the  faith 
he  has  propagated  in  her  realms.  She  knew  more  con- 
cerning his  timidity  than  the  world  knew.  The  latter 
thought  him  courageous ;  she  knew  he  was  not.  She 
directed  that  he  should  be  treated  with  apparent  sym- 
pathy and  consideration.     She  would  give  an  impression 


CBANMER:  PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.     ?A1 

of  royal  clemency  and  readiness  to  forgive.  If  he  will 
but  recant  all  shall  be  well.  Higher  ecclesiastical  honors 
shall  be  his,  or,  if  he  prefers  it,  he  sliall  live  a  private 
life  without  molestation  or  fear.  He  resisted  the  temp- 
tation for  a  time,  but  at  last  yielded  to  it,  wrote  his  re- 
cantation, repeated  it  six  times,  and  signed  it  in  the  pres- 
ence of  one  Sydal  and  two  Spanish  friars.  Mary  has 
gained  her  point.  Thomas  Cranmer,  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  primate  of  the  Reformed  Church  of  Eng- 
land, has  deserted  the  Reformation  and  returned  to  the 
Roman  fold  !  The  papists  are  jubilant.  Cranmer  is 
disgraced.  Protestantism  is  overthrown.  Reformers 
bow  their  heads  in  sorrow,  with  the  exclamation  of  the 
dying  Caesar/'  Et  tu  Brute!"  Now  let  the  bells  of 
St.  Paul's  be  rung  and  Te  Deums  be  raised  and  the 
pontiff  proclaim  thanksgiving  in  Rome. 

A  month  passed  on  and  Cranmer  is  still  a  prisoner. 
His  soul  is  pierced  with  many  sorrows.  His  gray  head 
is  bowed  in  shame.  He  has  saved  his  life,  but  at  an 
infinite  cost.  Saved  it?  JS'ot  so.  Mary  and  the  court 
have  decreed  his  death.  His  recantation  cannot  save 
him.  It  serves  only  to  embitter  his  last  hours  and 
break  his  power. 

On  the  21st  of  March,  1556,  the  archbishop  was  led 
out  to  die.  The  heavens  Avere  dark  with  clouds  and 
3old  winds  swept  down  the  streets  of  Oxford.  He 
was  first  conducted  to  St.  Mary's  church,  where  the 
sermon  usual  on  such  occasions  was  preached.  He 
stood  in  the  midst  of  the  people,  tall  and  commanding 
in  person ;  a  venerable  man,  the  sight  of  whose  mild, 
sorrowful  face  and  gray  hairs  moved  many  to  teai-s. 
As  the  sermon  progressed,  seemingly  oblivious  to  what 


348  R031ANISM  Ayn   THE  REFORMERS. 

was  passing  around  him,  he  would  stretch  his  hands 
toward  heaven,  great  tears  coursing  down  his  cheeks, 
as  if  praying  for  divine  mercy  and  a  speedy  passage 
home.  Again  he  would  drop  his  hands  and  bow  his 
head,  as  if  a  sense  of  shame  had  suddenly  overcome 
him.  The  sermon  ended,  liberty  was  given  him  to 
speak.  First  he  offered  a  prayer  in  which  he  made 
humble  confession  of  his  sins  and  pleaded  forgiveness 
for  the  same :  "  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord,  whose 
property  is  always  to  have  mercy,  for  although  my  sins 
be  great,  yet  thy  mercy  is  greater.  I  crave  nothing,  O 
Lord,  for  mine  own  merits,  but  for  thy  Name's  sake, 
that  it  may  be  glorified  thereby,  and  for  thy  dear  Son 
Jesus  Christ's  sake.     Amen.'' 

Then  he  addressed  the  people,  declaring  his  faith  in 
all  the  principles  of  the  Reformed  religion,  in  all  the 
teachings  of  Christ,  his  apostles  and  the  holy  prophets ; 
denying  the  pope  to  be  the  supreme  head  of  the  Church, 
but  Antichrist  rather,  and  his  doctrines  false.  He  re- 
ferred to  his  recantation,  deploring  that  great  offence 
against  Christ  and  the  truth,  saying,  "  Now  I  come  to 
the  great  thing  that  troubleth  my  conscience  more  than 
any  other  thing  that  I  ever  said  or  did  in  my  life,  and 
that  is  the  sending  abroad  of  writings  contrary  to  the 
truth  which  I  thought  in  my  heart,  and  writ  for  fear 
of  death  and  to  save  my  life,  if  it  might  be ;  and 
that  is  all  such  bills  which  T  have  written  or  signed 
with  mine  own  hand  since  my  degradation,  wherein  I 
have  written  many  things  untrue.  And  forasmuch  as 
my  hand  offended  in  writing  contrary  to  my  heart, 
therefore  my  hand  shall  first  be  punished,  for  if  I  may 
come  to  the  fire  it  shall   first  be  burned.     As  for  the 


CBANMER:  PERSECUTION  AND   MARTYRDOM.      :M9 

pope,  I  refuse  lilni  as  Christ's  enemy  and  Antichrist, 
with  all  his  false  doctrine.'^  These  were  brave  words. 
Like  Peter,  in  an  unguarded  hour  he  had  denied  his 
Lord,  and  like  Peter  he  is  uow  ready  to  die  for  Him 
whom  he  cannot  again  deny.  Conscious  of  his  own 
utter  weakness,  he  has  taken  hold  on  divine  strength. 
The  grace  of  Christ  sustains  him.  His  last  utterances, 
with  the  glare  of  flames  on  his  face,  are  in  behalf  of  the 
truth  and  his  injured  but  forgiving  Lord.  The  papists 
are  disappointed  and  enraged.  They  hurry  him  away 
to  the  stake  in  front  of  Balliol  College ;  they  bind  him 
to  it  with  fiendish  delight;  they  kindle  the  fires,  and 
then,  standing  by,  mock  the  martyr.  He  is  calm.  His 
trust  in  Christ  wavers  not.  The  hand  which  wrote  the 
recantation  is  held  out  to  the  flames,  and  he  says  again 
and  again,  ^^  Oh  this  unworthy  right  hand  !  This  hand 
hath  offended."     And  so  he  died. 

John  Strype  has  touch ingly  said :  "  He  was  not 
buried,  as  many  of  his  predecessors  were,  in  his  own 
cathedral  church,  nor  enclosed  in  a  monument  of  mar- 
ble or  touchstone.  Nor  had  he  any  inscription  to  set 
forth  his  praises  to  posterity ;  no  shrine  to  be  visited  by 
devout  pilgrims,  as  his  predecessors,  St.  Dunstan  and 
St.  Thomas,  had.  No !  Cranmer's  martyrdom  is  his 
monument,  and  his  name  will  outlast  an  epitaph  or 
shrine.'^  The  March  winds,  sporting  with  his  ashes, 
scattered  them  along  the  highways  and  byways  of 
Oxford;  but  the  seeds  of  divine  truth  which  he 
planted  in  England  have  borne  immortal  fruitage, 
and,  casting  the  mantle  of  charity  over  the  faults  of 
the  good  primate,  we  shall  ever  revere  the  memory  of 
him  who  laid  down  his  life  for  Christ,  and  who,  though 


350  EOMANISM  A XI)   THE  REFORMERS. 

sentenced  by  papists  to  quenchless  fires,  passed  the  domes 
of  St.  Mary's  church  and  BaUiol  College,  ascending  in 
triumph  to  a  home  above  the  fitful  sky. 

Thomas  Cranmer  was  a  man  of  great  attainments  in 
divinity  and  in  the  civil  and  canon  laws.  He  was 
familiar  with  the  writings  of  ancient  and  modern  times ; 
^^  there  were  no  councils,  canons,  decrees  of  the  popes, 
which  he  had  not  read.''  His  great  library  attracted  the 
attention  of  scholars,  and  his  own  productions  bore  the 
impress  of  a  master  mind.  His  piety  was  beyond  ques- 
tion, and  although  it  received  a  temporary  shock,  yet 
when  the  storm  had  passed  by  it  showed  itself  more 
dee])ly  rooted  than  before. 

"  The  primate  of  England,"  says  D'Aubigne,  "  held 
a  torch  in  his  hand  which  had  not  the  brilliancy  of  that 
borne  by  Luther  and  Calvin,  but  the  tempest  that  blew 
upon  it  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  could  not  extinguish 
it.  Sometimes  he  was  seized  with  terror  ;  as  he  heard 
tlie  lion  roar  he  bent  his  head,  kept  in  the  background 
and  concealed  the  truth  in  his  bosom  ;  but  again  he  rose 
and  again  held  out  to  the  Church  the  light  he  had  saved 
from  the  fury  of  the  tyrant.  He  Avas  a  reed  and  not 
an  oak — a  reed  that  bent  too  easily,  but  through  this 
very  weakness  he  was  able  to  do  what  an  oak  with  all 
its  strength  could  never  have  accomplished.  The  truth 
triumphed." 

Hume's  estimate  of  Cranmer's  character  deserves  here 
a  place :  "  He  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  merit,  possess- 
ed of  learning  and  capacity  and  adorned  with  sincerity, 
candor  and  beneficence  and  all  those  virtues  which  were 
fitted  to  render  him  useful  and  amiable  in  society.  His 
moral  qualities  procured  him  universal  respect,  and  the 


CBANMER:  PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.     .351 

courage  of  his  martyrdom,  though  he  fell  short  of  the 
rigid  inflexibility  observed  in  many,  made  him  the  hero 
of  the  Protestant  party." 

His  constitutional  weakness  of  purpose  and  his  dread 
of  suifering,  in  the  judgment  of  many  people,  mantled 
his  life  with  obloquy.  He  w^as  quite  removed  from 
the  moral  grandeur  of  Huss  and  Savonarola.  He  can- 
not be  ranked  with  Ridley  and  Latimer,  who  in  all  cir- 
cumstances were  steadfast  and  unwavering  in  their  de- 
votion to  Christ  and  his  known  truth,  and  went  more 
triumphantly  than  he  to  their  death.  Thousands  of 
saints  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy,  thouo-h  com- 
paratively  unknown,  are  more  unhesitatingly  accorded 
the  crown  of  martyrdom  than  was  Cranmer.  Yet 
there  was  much  of  grandeur  about  his  last  hours.  That 
outstretched  hand,  that  offending  hand,  w^avering  not  as 
the  flames  consumed  it,  pleads  in  behalf  of  the  man  who 
with  all  his  weaknesses  was  truly  great.  And  it  is 
evident  that  Cranmer's  vacillation  and  subserviency  to 
the  royal  will,  which  brought  him  great  suffering  at  the 
last,  was  overruled  to  the  advantage  of  the  Reformation. 
The  English  people  were  conservative.  Their  advance 
was  slow.  If  Cranmer  had  possessed  the  spirit  of  Cal- 
vin or  Knox,  and  had  measures  which  prevailed  in 
Scotland  been  imperatively  urged  in  England,  the  Ref- 
ormation might  have  broken  dowm  before  Henry  laid 
off  the  crown.  But  the  slower  process,  largely  conse- 
quent upon  Cranmer's  lack  of  moral  courage,  ultimately 
secured  the  triumph  of  truth  and  minimized  the  power 
of  Rome  in  the  British  Isles.  And  as  the  day  which 
has  been  often  obscured  with  clouds  may  terminate  in 
Bjilendor,  so  Cranmer's  closing  hours  radiated  the  glory 


352  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

of  that  iiuitcliless  throne  wliich  he  shall  for  ever  share 
with  his  Lord. 

The  burning  of  Cranmer  was  for  the  papacy  a  dam- 
aging act.  Had  his  recantation  been  followed  by  the 
redemption  of  the  pledge  to  spare  his  life,  the  primate 
of  all  England  might  have  been  for  ever  disgraced  in 
the  esteem  of  friends  and  enemies  alike.  But  Mary  and 
her  court  unwittingly  conferred  upon  him  the  highest 
boon  at  their  disposal  wlien  they  burnt  him  on  the 
Oxford  square  and  published  to  the  world  his  bold  con- 
fession. The  Reformed  Church  took  heart  agrain.  The 
Romish  Churcli  gnashed  her  teeth  in  impotent  rage. 

The  death  of  Cranmer  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the 
Reformation,  and  the  fires  of  persecution  wdiich  burned 
on  only  served  to  multiply  converts  to  the  faith  for 
which  the  primate  died.  The  nation  seemed  just  ready 
to  spring  to  its  feet  and  crush  the  religion  that  delighted 
in  carnage  and  drank  the  blood  of  the  saints.  Mary 
was  hated  by  the  very  people  who  at  her  coronation 
rang  the  cathedral  bells  and  shouted,  "  Long  live  the 
queen  V^  and  she  grew  more  unhappy  as  the  end  of  her 
bloody  reign  drew  nigh.  She  wandered  through  the 
chambers  of  her  palace  seeking  rest  and  finding  none. 
Her  husband  deserted  her,  returned  to  Spain,  and  to  her 
letters,  blurred  with  tears  and  written  with  her  life's 
blood,  made  no  answer. 

On  the  14th  of  November,  1558,  after  a  bloody  reign 
of  five  years.  Queen  Mary  went  to  her  account.  On 
the  same  day  Cardinal  Pole  also  died.  It  seemed  fit- 
ting that  the  j)ersecuting  queen  and  her  archbishop, 
"  the  hangman  and  scourge  of  the  Church  of  England," 
should  depart  together. 


CRA^\MER:  PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.      35^^ 

With  the  demise  of  these  suj)porters  of  the  papacy 
fche  fires  of  persecution  burned  out  and  peace  returned. 
It  was  God's  purpose  to  make  his  people  glad  according 
to  the  days  wherein  they  had  been  afflicted  and  the  years 
wherein  they  had  seen  evil. 

Not  wishing  to  interrupt  our  narrative  of  Cranmer's 
work,  we  have  passed  by  two  noted  characters  wlio 
deserve  more  extended  notice — men  who  did  much  to 
advance  the  Reformation,  on  whose  memory  there  rests 
no  cloud  such  as  obscured  the  fame  of  Bilney  and  at  a 
later  day  of  Cranmer.  We  refer  to  Latimer  and  Ridley, 
who  joined  the  army  of  martyrs  a  few  months  before 
the  English  primate.  Latimer  was  a  brave  defender  of 
the  truth.  He  loved  life  and  enjoyed  it,  but  the  honor 
of  Christ  and  of  the  evangel  was  more  to  him  than 
life.  He  had  confronted  the  English  bishops  with  a 
bold  recital  of  their  frailties  and  a  denunciation  of  their 
offences.  He  had  dared  to  tell  Henry  YIII.  that  lie 
was  the  chief  of  sinners  and  without  repentance  would_ 
perish.  He  had  been  archbishop  of  Worcester,  but 
having  opposed  the  Six  Articles  was  imprisoned,  and, 
although  liberated  after  the  accession  of  Edward  VI., 
declined  the  mitre,  yet  continued  to  preach  the  gospel 
for  which  he  had  suffered.  When  he  had  nearly  num- 
bered his  threescore  years  and  ten,  by  request  of  Arcli- 
bishop  Cranmer  he  occupied  apartments  in  Lambeth 
Palace.  Everything  associated  with  the  holy  man  is 
invested  with  interest.  The  Christian  traveler,  having 
lingered  among  the  tombs  of  Westminster  Abbey  and 
listened  to  the  sweet  choral  service,  crosses  the  Thames 
to  Lambeth  borough  and  seeks  the  palace  which  was 
the  home  of  the  Canterbury  bishop.     As  he  approaches 


35'1  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

it  he  muses  ou  the  oldeu  time  aud  the  holy  dead.  The 
old  gray  towers  speak  to  him  of  solemn  ages  which 
have  borue  their  record  on  high.  "  In  this  now  desolate 
and  silent  room/'  he  says,  "  when  the  slant  rays  of  the 
rising  sun  shot  through  that  narrow  casement  and  quiv- 
ered on  the  wall  of  its  deep  embrasure,  good  old  Lati- 
mer put  out  his  lamp,  for  the  pure  light  of  heaven  fell 
on  the  broad  pages  and  brazen  clasps  of  his  open  Bible ; 
and  the  old  man,  having  deeply  drunk  from  the  foun- 
tains of  truth,  rose  up  to  throw  open  the  casement,  to 
look  out  upon  the  glistening  waters  of  the  broad  Thames, 
and  to  breathe  the  morning  air  fresh  with  the  rushing 
tide  of  the  full  river.  Here  he  stood,  his  heart  swelling 
with  love  to  the  Giver  of  all  good,  thanking  and  prais- 
ing him  for  the  blessings  of  light  and  air,  so  unheeded 
by  many,  because  so  common  to  all,  but  precious  to  those 
who  like  himself  had  dwelt  in  prisons  such  as  the  old 
Tower  or  Bocardo.  Here  he  stood,  the  light  breeze 
playing  with  his  silver  hair  and  fluttering  the  leaves  of 
his  book,  till  the  rustling  sound  called  him  back  to  his 
delightful  studies.'' 

A  little  later  he  fancies  he  hears  the  chapel-bell  ring, 
aud  sees  Latimer,  supported  by  his  servant,  pass  along 
the  old  corridor  and  down  to  the  place  of  prayer.  The 
grave  and  gentle  Cranmer  welcomes  the  beloved  father, 
and  heaven  seems  to  come  down  to  earth  as  they  join  in 
the  solemn  service  and  anticipate  the  communion  of  the 
redeemed  in  the  temple  not  made  with  hands  or  in  the 
shade  of  trees  that  skirt  the  river  of  life. 

But  Mary  ascends  the  throne,  and  Latimer  exchanges 
Lambeth  Palace  for  a  secluded  vicar's  home  in  the 
North.     Next  we  find  him  a  prisoner  in  the  old  Tower. 


CKANMER:  PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.     355 

And  what  a  history  has  that  venerable  pile !  Here 
kings  and  queens  have  found  a  home  and  worn  an  un- 
easy crown ;  here  men  and  women,  nobly  born,  have 
looked  death  in  the  face,  then  bared  their  necks  to  tlie 
headsman's  axe.  Here  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Bishop 
Fisher,  Anne  Boleyn  and  Lady  Jane  Grey,  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  and  many  others,  met  their  fate.  Here  Latimer 
was  imprisoned,  and  Ridley  with  him,  and  afterward  both 
were  sent  to  the  Oxford  jail.  They  had  been  charged 
with  denying  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  and 
the  propitiatory  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  They  maintained 
that  Christ  had  made  one  oblation  which  was  sufficient 
for  the  sins  of  the  world  and  for  all  the  age?;.  By  this 
declaration  they  would  stand. 

On  the  16th  of  Octobor,  1555,  they  were  led  to  the 
stake,  passing  under  the  window  of  the  prison  in  which 
Cranmer  was  confined.  Ridley  preceded  his  fellow- 
martyr,  and  as  the  venerable  Latimer  ap})roached  he 
hastened  to  meet  and  embrace  him,  saying,  ^'  Be  of  good 
heart,  brother;  God  will  either  assuage  the  flame  or  else 
he  will  strengthen  us  to  abide  it.''  A  priest  who  stood 
near  said,  '^  Recant,  and  you  shall  both  live." — ^'^  So 
long  as  the  breath  is  in  my  body,"  said  Ridley,  ''  I  will 
never  deny  my  Lord  Christ  and  his  known  truth." 
Likewise  answered  liatimer.  Then  they  took  their 
places,  one  on  each  side  of  the  stake  to  which  they  were 
bound  with  an  iron  chain.  As  the  flames  rose  about 
them,  the  godly  Latimer,  now  past  his  eightieth  year 
and  about  to  put  on  immortal  youth,  with  a  clear  and 
joyful  voice  said  to  his  brother,  whose  face  he  could  not 
see,  "Be  of  good  courage,  Master  Ridley,  and  i)lay  the 
man.     We  shall  tliis  day  light  such  a  caudle,  by  God'n 


356  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

grace,  in  England  as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put  out." 
And  thus  they  witnessed  a  good  confession,  as  did  their 
Lord  before  Pontius  Pilate,  and  addressed  each  other 
in  words  of  cheer.  They  glorified  God  in  the  fires, 
then  went  to  that  peaceful  heaven  where  the  flames  of 
persetution  shall  never  be  kindled. 

With  the  coronation  of  Elizabeth  peace  was  restored 
to  England.  The  steeple-towers  rang  their  welcome  to 
the  Protestant  queen.  The  headsman  laid  away  his  axe 
and  the  smith  his  bloody  chain.  Protestantism,  by  rea- 
son of  the  infirmity  which  belongs  to  man,  may  some- 
times wear  a  scowling  face  and  utter  threats,  but  its 
habit  is  to  make  its  conquests  by  peaceful  means,  win- 
ning by  love  those  whom  Romanism  would  drive  with 
bayonets,  or,  fiiiling  in  this,  trample  in  the  dust. 

Elizabeth  was  twenty-four  years  of  age  when  she 
ascended  the  throne,  and  for  forty-five  years  she  reigned 
over  England  wisely  and  well.  The  Bible  she  received 
from  the  hands  of  a  child  as  she  passed  under  a  triumph- 
al arch  on  her  coronation  day  furnished  the  principles 
which  determined  her  rule.  Errors  she  doubtless  com- 
mitted. The  religion  she  established  was  not  without 
its  blemishes ;  but  the  Reformation  was  advanced  with 
becoming  caution  and  brought  incalculable  good  to  her 
realm. 

The  queen  claimed,  as  did  Henry  her  father,  that  the 
sovereign  of  the  state  was  the  head  of  the  English 
Church,  and  assumed  prerogatives  which  were  alike 
iniscriptural,  corrupting  and  dangerons.  But  this  act 
of  supremacy,  which  gave  to  Elizabeth  temporal  and 
spiritual  power,  put  an  end  to  all  appeals  to  Rome  and 
revoked  all  the  laws  relating  to  heresy.     The  Act  of 


CRANMEB:  PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.     357 

Uuiformity,  whilst  it  left  the  people  free  as  concerned 
their  doctrinal  belief,  required  the  observance  of  the 
same  rites  and  ceremonies,  which  Elizabeth,  as  head  of 
the  Church,  was  empowered  to  appoint  and  change  at 
pleasure. 

The  queen  sought  at  the  same  time  to  conciliate  the 
Romanists.  Hence  in  the  revision  of  Edward's  liturgy 
she  caused  to  be  erased  passages  oiiensive  to  the  pope, 
•^uch  as  that  in  the  Litany,  ^'  the  tyranny  of  the  bishop 
of  Rome  and  all  his  detestable  enormities,"  and  certain 
terms  respecting  kneeling  in  the  sacrament  which  were 
distasteful  to  those  who  believed  in  the  real  presence. 
The  English  Church  occupied  middle  ground  between 
Romanism  and  the  Protestantism  of  Scotland  and  of  the 
Continent.  It  retained  in  its  polity  and  worship  much 
that  was  papistic.  The  supremacy  of  the  sovereign 
was  only  a  transfer  of  power  which  the  pope  had 
claimed. 

The  Anglican  Episcopacy,  as  is  well  known,  made 
distinctions  in  the  ministry.  It  had  its  bishops,  priests, 
and  deacons,  and  traced  its  succession  from  the  apostles 
through  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  Protestantism  of 
Scotland  maintained  the  parity  of  the  clergy— equality 
in  prerogative  and  rank.  But  the  episcopacy  of  that 
day  was  more  liberal  than  it  is  in  ours.  Ordination  by 
presbytery  was  recognized  as  valid,  and  ministers  thus 
ordained  officiated  in  English  churches,  presided  over 
English  parishes  and  maintained  intimate  and  fraternal 
relations  with  the  clergy  who  had  received  episcopal 
ordination.  The  distinction  which  was  then  made  was 
one  of  office,  not  of  order.  Thomas  Cranmer  said, 
"The  bishops  and  priests  were  at  one  time  one  thing. 


358  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

and  were  not  two  things^  but  both  one  office  in  the  be- 
ginning of  Christ's  religion.''  This  was  the  prevalent 
opinion.  It  is  otherwise  now.  Pity  that  it  should  be 
so.  Think  of  the  ordination  of  such  men  as  Chalmers, 
Edwards  and  the  Alexanders ;  of  Spurgeon,  John  Hall 
and  the  Hoges — men  called  of  God  to  preach  his  evan- 
gel and  greatly  honored  in  their  work — being  denied  by 
any  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  in  this  age  of  the 
world !  Exclusive  episcopal  ordination  is  an  unscript- 
ural  dogma  ;  apostolic  succession  is  a  myth.  But  let 
these  pass.  The  Church  of  England  has  embraced  in 
its  communion  stalwart  saints  and  has  done  a  noble 
work  for  Christ. 

Elizabeth  was  fond  of  pompous  ceremony  in  imposing 
cathedrals,  and  would  have  her  clergy  clothed  in  gor- 
geous vestments  when  performing  the  solemn  rites  of 
the  Church.  She  favored  images  of  the  saints,  the 
crucifix  and  a  ritual  closely  approximating  to  that  of 
Rome.  She  would  have  insisted  on  the  celibacy  of  the 
clergy  had  not  her  secretary  Cecil  opposed  it,  and  her 
sacramentarian  views  were  closely  allied  to  those  of  the 
papacy. 

The  characteristics  of  the  early  English  Church  have 
been  continued  with  little  modification  to  the  present. 
The  sacrameutarianism  of  the  High  Church  of  England 
is  alarming  to  the  evangelicals,  and  the  elimination  of 
the  latter  element  may  be  only  a  question  of  time,  fore- 
shadowed in  the  Reformed  Episcopalianism  of  America, 
an  organized  protest  against  the  assumptions  of  the 
mother  Church. 

The  Act  of  Conformity  at  the  commencement  of 
Elizabeth's  reign   was  distasteful  to  many   Protestants. 


(JEANMER:   PERSECUTION  AND  MARTYRDOM.     35(J 

The  nonconformists  or  Puritans  (so  called  because  thev 
desired  greater  purity  in  worship)  said  they  could  not  in 
conscience  submit  to  the  act,  and  deplored  the  engraft- 
ing upon  the  Reformed  Church  of  the  once-discarded 
superstitions  of  Rome.  This  controversy  increased  in 
bitterness,  and  the  Puritans  became  the  subjects  of  a 
persecution  which  threatened  to  rival  the  papal  In- 
quisition. 

We  cannot  trace  the  history  of  Puritanism.  It  grew 
with  the  years.  James  I.  considered  its  principles  re- 
publican. It  struck  at  the  power  of  the  throne.  Epis- 
copacy was  more  in  harmony  with  monarchy.  Hence 
his  favorite  maxim,  ^'No  bishop,  no  kiug,^'  and  he 
determined  that  the  Puritans  should  conform  or  be 
banished  from  the  land.  This  controversy  drove  many 
to  the  New  World.  They  preferred  exile  to  submission, 
and  freedom  of  conscience  in  the  wilderness  to  the  com- 
forts of  ancestral  homes  and  the  domination  of  a  pre- 
latic  Church.  Hence  the  settlements  in  New  England 
and  the  kindling  of  gospel  light  along  our  eastern 
coast  which  now  shines  across  the  continent.  Hence, 
too,  the  establishment  of  a  government  the  principles 
of  which  are  the  perfection  of  human  wisdom,  and 
the  fruits  of  which,  among  a  people  who  fear  God, 
are  always  beneficent  and  above  all  price. 

24 


JOHN  KNOX,  THE  REFORMER  OF  SCOTLAND, 


"  Clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him  :  righteousness 
and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of  liis  throne.'' 

"■  Trust  God  when  providences  seem  to  run  quite  contrary  to 
promises.'''' 

Watson. 

"  Christ  doth  gather  a7id  defend  his  Church,  and  subdue 
their  enemies ;  furiiisJieth  his  ministers  and  people  with  gifts 
and  graces,  and  rnaketh  intercession  for  them.'' 

Larger  Catechism,  Ans.  to  Question  54. 


JOHN  KNOX,  THE  REFORMER  OF 
SCOTLAND. 


AS  God  in  the  mysterious  exercise  of  his  will  per- 
mitted sin  to  enter  the  world  and  overruled  it  to 
his  glory,  so  in  every  age  he  has  given  certain  license  to 
wicked  men  and  erroneous  doctrine,  yet  has  set  bounds 
to  the  power  of  the  one  and  the  extension  of  the  other, 
and  demonstrated  his  superiority  to  l)oth  by  raising  up 
human  agencies  through  which  he  has  secured  the 
triumph  of  the  righteous  and  the  establishment  of  the 
truth.  It  is  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon 
that  prevails,  and  oftentimes  the  insignificance  of  the 
agency  magnifies  the  power  which  employs  it. 

It  is  profitable  to  study  divine  providences  as  they 
relate  to  the  Church.  God  is  found  in  history.  In  the 
great  crises  of  the  world  heaven  seems  to  touch  the 
earth,  and  men  awake  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a  God 
who  takes  co2:nizance  of  the  race  and  controls  the 
machinery  of  the  world's  affairs. 

With  a  view  to  our  spiritual  profit  we  propose  to  con- 
sider some  of  the  salient  points  in  the  Scottish  Refor- 
mation, and  especially  as  associated  with  the  life  of  that 
remarkable  man  who  was  the  chief  instrument  of  its 
inauguration  and  success. 

In  the  suburbs  of  Haddington— or,  as  some  believe, 

363 


,^64  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

in  the  village  of  Giifordgate — Scotland,  in  the  year  1505, 
was  born  of  honorable  parentage  a  child  who,  to  use  the 
language  of  the  historian  Froude,  ^'  became  in  that  ex- 
traordinary age  its  most  extraordinary  man,  and  whose 
character  became  the  mould  in  which  the  later  fortunes 
of  his  country  were  cast/^ 

This  son  was  born  four  years  after  Calvin,  and  in  the 
same  year  that  Martin  Luther  entered  the  Augustinian 
monastery  at  Erfurt.  He  took  his  name,  it  is  supposed, 
from  the  paternal  mansion,  which  was  called  the  Knock. 
It  was  situated  near  the  birthplace  of  William  Wallace 
and  the  ancestral  home  of  Mary  Stuart,  and  perchance 
there  was  sounded  in  the  olden  time,  before  Knox  was 
born,  the  bugle-cry  of  contending  families  which  gave  pro- 
phetic intimation  of  the  long-fought  battles  of  later  ages. 

Young  Knox  early  evinced  an  unusual  strength  of 
intellect  and  thirst  for  knowledge,  which  induced  his 
2)arents  to  give  him  a  liberal  education.  He  was  ac- 
cordingly sent  to  the  grammar-school  in  Haddington, 
and  subsequently,  when  sixteen  years  of  age,  to  the 
University  of  Glasgow.  Education  then  was  not  gen- 
eral. Of  Latin  schools  there  were  but  few.  The 
Greek  was  an  unknown  language  in  Scotland  until 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  Hebrew  was 
not  taught  in  the  schools  until  a  much  later  period. 
Knox  availed  himself  of.  all  the  advantages  his  own 
country  afforded,  and  at  mid-life,  on  the  Continent,  at- 
tained to  considerable  proficiency  in  Hebrew,  and  so  be- 
came the  better  qualified  for  the  study  of  the  Old-Testa- 
ment Scriptures. 

At  the  university  in  Glasgow  he  had  for  his  preceptor 
in  philosophy  and  theology  a  man  who  was  regarded  a? 


JOHN  KNOX,   THE  REFORMER  OF  SCOTLAND.  365 

one  of  the  best  educators  of  the  day,  especially  in  tlio 
department  which  he  filled.  We  refer  to  John  Mair,  a 
man  of  rugged  intellect,  strong  convictions  and  progress- 
ive thought.  The  intellectual  bias  and  the  moral  char- 
acter whiph  are  to  give  direction  to  all  the  future  of 
life  are  often  early  determined  by  the  influences  and  as- 
sociations of  the  school.  It  is  a  serious  reflection  which 
all  parents  would  do  well  to  consider.  Of  this  we  have 
an  illustration  in  the  case  of  John  Knox.  As  Calvin 
was  indebted  for  many  of  the  principles  which  consti- 
tuted him  a  successful  Reformer  to  that  eminent  French 
jurist,  Pierre  de  PEtoile,  his  preceptor  at  Orleans,  so 
Knox  received  from  John  Mair  the  germs  of  the  Scot- 
tish Keformation.  The  pupil  outstripped  the  teacher. 
He  entered  realms  of  thought  and  compassed  potent 
facts  of  human  life  of  which  the  Glasgow  professor 
had  little  or  no  conception.  But  the  latter  gave  to  the 
greater  mind  of  the  pupil  the  impetus  which  carried 
him  on  and  the  direction  which  determined  his  goal. 
Mair  held  sentiments  with  respect  to  the  authority  of 
the  pope  and  the  prerogatives  of  kings  which  few  held, 
and  a  smaller  number  dared  to  express — sentiments 
which  found  their  fruitage  at  a  later  day  in  religious 
and  civil  freedom  :  on  the  one  hand,  freedom  of  con- 
science and  the  humiliation  of  the  papal  power ;  on  the 
other,  the  lifting  up  of  the  people  as  the  source  of  all 
civil  authority  and  the  court  of  highest  appeal.  These 
sentiments,  which  had  previously  been  held  by  a  few  on 
the  Continent,  were  readily  imbibed  by  the  young  stu- 
dent. They  commended  themselves  to  his  innate  sense 
of  right,  and  he  w^as  prepared  to  follow  them  on  to 
their  legitimate  results. 


'd6Q  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

About  this  time  his  attention  was  called  to  the  writ- 
ings of  the  early  Christian  Fathers.  He  was  especially 
interested  in  Jerome,  who  exalted  the  Bible  as  the  rule 
of  faith,  and  in  Augustine,  who,  after  the  example  of 
Paul  the  apostle,  magnified  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  Here  he  found  the 
principles  of  Protestantism,  the  faith  of  the  apostolic 
Church. 

The  light  of  distant  centuries  overleaps  the  Dark 
Ages  and  begins  to  pierce  the  clouds  which  have  long 
darkened  the  British  Isles.  John  Knox  looks  up  with 
glad  surprise.  The  gray  light  betokens  day.  There  is 
some  great  good  in  store  for  Scotland.  Himself  a  priest 
of  the  Romish  Church,  he  becomes  increasingly  dis- 
satisfied with  his  traditional  faith.  The  papacy  was 
alarmingly  corrupt.  The  clergy  held  half  the  wealth 
of  the  nation.  These  so-called  successors  of  the  apostles 
had  not  the  spirit  of  the  men  who  surrendered  all  for 
Christ.  They  clothed  themselves  with  worldly  pomp 
and  secular  power.  They  were  privy  counselors,  the 
lords  of  sessions  and  the  magnates  of  Parliament.  They 
lived  in  pleasure  and  gloried  in  their  shame.  Obedient 
to  the  canons  of  the  Church  which  required  celibacy, 
they  were  notoriously  unclean,  and  the  general  morals 
were  corrupted  by  their  vicious  example.  The  priests 
were  also  ignorant.  Many  of  them  did  not  understand 
the  language  of  their  mumbled  service,  and  knew  as 
little  of  the  tenets  of  their  corrupt  religion.  The 
bishops  never  preached.  This  work  they  delegated  to 
mendicant  monks,  who  were  as  ignorant  and  mercenary 
as  are  the  mendicants  of  the  Greek  Church  to-day. 

History  tells   us  that   the   kingdom    swarmed    with 


JOHN  KNOX,    THE  REFORMER   OF  SCOTLAND.  :507 

ignorant,  idle,  luxurious  monks,  who  like  locusts  de- 
voured the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  filled  the  air  with 
pestilential  infection— with  friars  white,  black  and  gray ; 
canons  regular  and  of  St.  Anthony;  Carmelites,  Cor- 
deliers, Dominicans,  Franciscans,  Conventuals,  and  Oh- 
servantines,  Jacobins ;  monks  of  Tyrone ;  Holy  Knights 
of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem  ;  nuns  of  St.  Austin,  St.  Clair, 
St.  Scholastica  and  St.  Catherine  of  Sienna ;  and  others, 
miserable  libels  even  on  ordinary  depraved  humanity. 

The  gospel  which  Paul  and  Peter  preached  was  almost 
unknown.  What  little  of  truth  remained  in  the  creeds 
of  the  Church  was  buried  under  the  rubbish  of  human 
inventions.  The  altar  on  which  w^as  celebrated  the 
mass  shut  out  of  view  the  spiritual  cross,  and  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  around  whom  was  grouped  an  army  of  so- 
called  saints,  supplanted  the  only  Advocate  and  prevail- 
ing Intercessor  of  the  Church. 

The  seemingly  devout  worshipers  went  from  the 
mass  to  the  ale-house,  and  from  the  confessional  to  the 
repetition  of  their  sins ;  a  scriptural  faith  and  holy  liv- 
ing were  alike  unknown. 

All  this  is  the  legitimate  fruit  of  papacy.  Where  it 
has  had  undisputed  sway  it  has  kept  the  people  in  ignor- 
ance and  substituted  the  grossest  superstitions  for  saving 
truth.  It  is  so  now.  Without  Christ  there  can  be  no 
salvation,  either  from  the  condemnation  or  the  defile- 
ment of  sin.  The  history  of  the  world  declares  this. 
Yet  there  is  a  tendency,  inherent  in  our  fallen  nature, 
to  will-worship,  to  a  corrupt  religion,  the  fruit  of  mere 
human  ingenuity,  which  stultifies  the  natural  conscience, 
and,  while  promising  heaven  to  its  devotees,  paves  tlie 
way  to  hell. 


368  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

Such  was  the  religion  of  Scotland.  It  was  dark  and 
cold  as  the  mists  which  came  up  from  the  sea.  Its 
cathedrals  were  architecturally  impressive,  of  vast  pro- 
portions, filled  with  all  the  furnishings  of  a  religion 
which  was  sensuous  only,  whilst  from  crypt  to  vault- 
ed roof  the  air  was  laden  with  moral  death,  seldom 
stirred  by  the  breathings  of  even  a  languid  spiritual 
life. 

At  the  same  time  the  people  of  Scotland  were  not 
impervious  to  the  truth.  They  were  such  stuff  as  stal- 
wart saints  are  made  of.  Give  them  a  little  light  and 
they  crave  more,  and  will  have  it.  And  even  at  this 
period,  despite  the  depression  of  the  dominant  religion, 
they  were  brave,  resolute  and  powerful,  stern  as  the 
mountains  of  the  North,  and  unbridled  as  the  air  which 
swept  the  Highlands  and  the  moors. 

Bannockburn  told  the  story  of  their  prowess,  and 
England,  unable  to  subjugate  her  Teutonic  brothers, 
was  driven  back  to  the  Southland,  the  border  bristling 
with  bayonets  and  guarded  by  frowning  castles  which 
lifted  their  dark  fronts  into  the  murky  sky.  Such  was 
the  land  of  our  fathers,  the  birthplace  of  that  civil  and 
religious  freedom  which  has  extended  its  beneficent  rule 
to  our  Western  World. 

It  may  aid  our  understanding  of  the  Scottish  Ref- 
ormation to  glance  at  some  events  which  prepared  the 
w^ay  for  its  inauguration. 

Patrick  Hamilton,  the  great-grandson  of  James  II., 
and  one  year  the  senior  of  John  Knox,  was  made  abbot 
of  Feme  when  only  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  played 
an  important  part  in  the  opening  drama  of  the  Refor- 
mation.    He  had  been  a  student  in  the  University  of 


JOHN  KNOX,   THE  REFORMER   OF  SCOTLAND.   369 

Paris.  Here  he  heard  of  Martin  Luther,  aiul,  h)()kiii<r 
eastward,  he  saw  the  light  which,  kindled  in  the  valleys 
of  the  Rhine  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Rhone,  was  as- 
cending the  Alps  to  shine  thence  over  the  darker  re- 
gions lying  to  the  westward. 

Hamilton  was  a  devout  student  of  tlie  sacred  lan- 
guages, and  soon  was  able  to  read  the  word  of  God  in 
the  original  tongues.  Here  he  found  the  Christ  of  revela- 
tion and  the  doctrine  of  justification  l)y  faith.  Having 
returned  to  Scotland,  Cardinal  Beaton  of  St.  Andrews 
learned  of  the  young  man's  defection  from  the  faith, 
charged  him  with  heresy  and  declared  him  worthy  of 
death.  Hamilton  deemed  it  best  to  return  to  Europe, 
that  he  might  learn  more  concerning  this  new  religion. 
In  Wittenberg  he  met  Martin  Luther,  Philip  Melanch- 
thon  and  Francis  Lambert,  who  helped  him  on  to  a 
clearer  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Then  at  Marburg  he 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  William  Tyndale  and  John 
Frith,  and  in  the  armory  of  the  gospel  they  equipped 
themselves  for  holy  war. 

From  his  peaceful  retreat  the  young  Reformer  felt 
constrained  to  depart,  that  he  might  show  his  country- 
men the  "  more  excellent  way.''  Hear  now  how  clear- 
ly he  expresses  that  precious  faith  which,  preserved 
in  the  Bible  and  hidden  in  the  valleys  of  ISforthern 
Italy,  came  to  him  as  from  the  very  lips  of  Jesus 
and  his  apostles.  These  are  his  own  words :  "  The  law 
showeth  us  our  sin,  the  gospel  showeth  us  the  remedy 
for  it.  The  law  showeth  us  our  condemnation,  the  gos- 
pel showeth  us  our  redemption.  The  law  saith  to  the 
sinner,  Pay  thy  debt ;  the  gospel  saith,  Christ  hath  paid 
it.     The  law  saith.   Thou  art  a  sinner;  despair— thou 


370  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

shall  be  damned  ;  the  gospel  saith,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven 
thee";  be  of  good  comfort — thou  shalt  be  saved." 

In  his  own  country  he  preached  to  noblemen  and  their 
families  who  were  his  own  kindred,  some  of  whom  be- 
h'eved.  Then  he  ventured  to  proclaim  the  truth  in 
public  places  and  to  common  people.  Some  heard  him 
gladly  ;  others  pronounced  him  a  heretic  and  reported 
his  words  to  the  ecclesiastical  autocrat  of  St.  Andrews. 

Hamilton  was  induced  to  appear  at  a  conference  at  St. 
Andrews  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  calmly  discussing 
the  principles  of  his  faith.  Then  followed  a  mock  trial, 
after  which  the  Reformer  was  cast  into  the  old  sea-tower, 
which  still  remains,  and  on  a  wintry  day  in  1528  he  was 
burned  at  the  stake.  With  his  dying  breath  he  prayed 
for  his  murderers,  and  then  said,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive 
my  spirit.''  When  nearly  burned  through  the  waist  by  the 
fiery  chain  which  bound  him  to  the  stake,  and  when  power 
of  speech  was  gone,  a  spectator,  addressing  him  from  the 
crowd,  asked  that  if  he  still  had  faith  in  the  views  for 
which  he  was  condemned  he  should  indicate  it  by  a  sign. 
Thereupon  he  lifted  his  mutilated  hand  and  held  it 
aloft  until  he  died,  tlius  declaring  his  unfailing  trust  in 
the  Crucified  One  and  pointing  the  way  to  that  heaven 
which  opened  for  his  entrance. 

Thus  died,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  the  proto-mar- 
tyr  of  the  Scottish  Reformation.  On  the  day  that  he 
died  the  papacy  unwittingly  kindled  a  fire  which  shone 
over  all  Scotland,  in  the  flames  of  which  it  was  itself 
consumed. 

Some  of  the  nobility  of  Scotland  were  deeply  affected 
by  the  martyrdom  of  this  royal  youth.  Does  a  Roman 
cardinal  hold  in  his  hands  the  lives  of  men  nobly  born  ? 


JOHN  KNOX,   THE  REFORMER   OF  SCOTLAND.  371 

Are  we  answerable  for  our  faith  to  a  cruel  hierarchy  ? 
Whereunto  shall  this  matter  grow?  Then  came  the 
inquiry,  "  For  what  did  Hamilton  die  ?"  Many  sought 
an  answer,  and  in  finding  it  discovered  the  truth,  and 
so  God  made  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him. 

A  few  years  later  the  earl  of  Arran  was  appointed  to 
administer  the  government  during  the  minority  of  the 
queen.  His  influence  advanced  the  Reformation.  The 
papacy,  which  always  shuns  the  light,  and  to-day  joins 
hands  with  infidelity  in  the  effort  to  exclude  the  Bible 
from  our  public  schools,  had  withheld  the  Scriptures 
from  the  people.  The  man  who  dared  to  read  and  in- 
terpret for  himself  God's  holy  word  was  accursed.  But 
the  Scottish  Parliament  granted  to  all  the  privilege  of 
reading  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  their  own  language. 
The  word  of  God  was  no  longer  bound.  The  blessed 
evangel  went  abroad.  The  music  of  heaven,  like  that 
heard  on  the  Bethlehem  plain,  carried  its  sweet  harmo- 
nies down  the  valleys  and  echoed  among  the  hills. 

But  Romanism  will  not  die  without  a  protracted 
struggle.  It  burnishes  its  armor,  masses  its  forces  and 
goes  out  to  the  fight.  Ere  long  attention  is  directed  to  a 
lone  man  who,  David-like,  defies  the  enemies  of  Israel, 
not  rashly  provoking  the  rage  of  the  papacy,  but  quietly 
pursuing  his  mission  as  a  preacher  of  the  truth.  In  the 
open  fields  the  common  people  crowd  about  him  to  hear 
the  story  of  Calvary.  He  tells  them  of  Christ  and 
says  little  of  the  Church.  He  points  to  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain,  and  says,  "  There  is  your  atone- 
ment,'' and  so  diverts  their  minds  from  the  superstitions 
which  had  shut  the  Saviour  from  their  sight.  It 
was  George  Wishart,  brother  of  the  laird  of  Pittarrow. 


372  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

He  is  ever  about  his  Master's  business.  Montrose  and 
Dundee  ''felt  and  owned  the  power  of  his  heavenly 
eloquence.'' 

By  and  by  there  follows  him,  wherever  he  goes,  a 
thoughtful  man  of  small  stature  and  intellectual  coun- 
tenance, whose  love  to  Wishart,  like  that  of  Jonathan 
for  David,  passes  that  of  women.  The  holy  fire  of  the 
preacher  burns  into  his  soul  and  consumes  the  last  re- 
mains of  a  superstitious,  Christless  faith. 

The  day  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  assassinate  the 
great  preacher  this  attendant  drew  his  sword,  and  never 
returned  it  to  its  sheath.  But  the  earl  of  Bothwell  is 
mightier  than  the  evangelist  Wishart.  The  latter  is 
seized.  His  faithful  friend  prefers  to  share  his  fate. 
"  God  bless  you  !"  said  Wishart ;  "  one  is  sufficient  for 
a  sacrifice ;"  and  so  they  parted.  That  young  man  who 
goes  sorrowfully  away  is  none  less  than  John  Knox — 
he  who  is  to  carry  on  the  work  which  Wishart  lays 
down. 

Wishart  was  tried  and  condemned  to  death.  They 
put  on  him  a  black  robe,  attached  bags  of  gunpowder 
to  his  person,  and  with  a  rope  around  his  neck  and  a 
chain  about  his  waist  led  him  to  the  stake.  When  he 
came  to  the  place  of  execution  he  knelt  down  and  rose 
again,  thrice  repeating  the  prayer,  "  O  thou  Saviour  of 
the  world,  have  mercy  upon  me !  Father  of  heaven,  I 
commend  my  spirit  into  thy  hands."  A  trumpet  sounds : 
it  is  the  signal  for  the  execution.  Wishart  is  bound  to 
the  stake  and  the  fires  are  kindled.  Archbishop  Beaton 
looks  from  his  castle-window  and  "  feeds  his  eyes  with 
the  martyr's  torments."  But  there  is  a  chariot,  such  as 
the  Tishbite's  of  old,  which  he  saw  not,  bearing  the  soul 


JOHN  KNOX,   THE  REFORMER   OF  SCOTLAND.  37:) 

of  the  holy  Wishart  to  heaven,  where  the  cruel,  unre- 
pentant minions  of  Antichrist  can  never  go. 

Some  who  witnessed  the  martyr's  death  said,  "  Beaton 
is  Wishart's  murderer,  and  lie  shall  die/'  "  Law,  in  its 
pure  and  proper  sense,''  says  a  modern  historian,  "  there 
was  none  in  Scotland;  the  partition-lines  between  evil 
and  good  were  obliterated  in  the  general  anarchy,  and 
right  struggled  against  wrong  with  such  ambiguous 
weapons  as  the  wild  justice  of  nature  suggested." 

On  another  day  three  men  made  tlieir  way  along  the 
dark  passages  of  the  castle  to  the  chamber  of  Beaton, 
into  which  they  forced  an  entrance.  They  bade  the 
cardinal  "repent  him  of  his  former  wicked  life,"  after 
which  they  smote  him  with  their  swords  until  he  died. 
Then  from  the  window  of  the  castle  from  which  he  had 
witnessed  the  execution  of  Wishart  they  exposed  the 
dead  cardinal  to  the  view  of  the  multitude  now  gathered 
about  the  castle-gate,  and  then  carried  the  body  to  the 
old  sea- tower  in  which  Hamilton  had  been  imprisoned 
and  before  which  Wishart  had  been  burned. 

We  do  not  justify  the  act,  though  Beaton  deserved  to 
die.  It  was  lawless  justice  smiting  down  one  beyond 
the  reach  of  law.  It  suggests  the  doom  of  Ahab.  The 
murderer  dies  for  his  crimes.  And  on  that  day  sturdy 
hands  rang  the  death-knell  of  papacy  in  the  land  of  the 
holy  martyrs.  Rome  is  humbled.  The  night  is  past 
and  the  day  is  at  hand. 

Now  John  Knox  appears  again  upon  the  scene,  and 
his  subsequent  career  is  woven  as  the  woof  into  all 
Scottish  history  until  the  final  establishment  of  the  Ref- 
ormation under  the  shadow  of  which  Scotland  sits  to- 
(day,  none  daring  to  molest  her  or  make  her  afraid. 


374  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

A  year  after  the  death  of  Archbishop  Beaton,  Knox 
was  quietly  engaged  as  a  teacher  in  St.  Andrews.  In 
the  chapel  of  the  castle  he  read  and  expounded  the 
Scriptures.  These  exercises  attracted  the  attention  of 
men  of  note,  into  whose  minds  the  gospel  in  its  sweet 
simplicity  was  finding  entrance.  Near  by  the  castle 
stood  the  parish  church.  Here  Christ  was  preached. 
Faith  and  holiness  were  the  burdens  of  each  discourse. 
All  this  was  strange  and  new,  and  men  listened  as  for 
their  lives.  The  preacher,  a  converted  monk  late  from 
the  monastery  in  Stirling,  was  John  Rough.  He  was  a 
man  of  great  power.  His  preaching  was  not  in  the 
enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  it  was  accompanied 
with  spiritual  fervor  and  went  directly  to  the  mark. 
He  needed  an  assistant.  He  said  John  Knox  was  the 
man  he  wanted.  The  people  approved  his  choice.  Knox 
hesitated.  The  undertaking  was  great,  and  he  felt  him- 
self inadequate  for  it.  A  day  was  appointed  for  the 
election  of  an  assistant.  Rough  preached  a  sermon,  and 
at  the  close  of  it,  looking  at  Knox  in  the  pew,  he  said, 
"Brother,  be  not  offended.  In  the  name  of  God  and 
of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  I  charge  you  that  you  refuse 
not  this  holy  vocation."  Knox  was  startled,  burst  into 
tears  and  hastened  from  the  house.  But  he  was  not  the 
man  to  disobey  God,  and,  assured  that  the  call  was  from 
him,  he  entered  on  the  work. 

The  parish  church  is  crowded  to  hear  the  new  preach- 
er. He  makes  the  arches  ring  with  his  vehement  elo- 
quence. He  is  a  radical  preacher.  Plis  hearers  said, 
"Others  sued  the  branches  of  the  papistree,  but  he 
strykes  at  the  roote  to  destroy  the  bole."  He  steps 
boldly  out  from  the  papacy,  carrying  not  a  shred  of 


JOHN  KNOX,   THE  REFORMER   OF  SCOTLAND.  :]75 

its  superstition  with  him.  He  has  no  words  of  apology 
for  Rome.  He  is  not  content  with  an  attempt  to  reform 
what  is  beyond  all  redemption.  He  does  not  propose  to 
lop  off  this  excrescence  and  reduce  that.  He  would  as 
soon  think  to  revivify  a  corpse  by  amputating  a  limb. 
He  says  the  Romish  Church  is  the  synagogue  of  Satan, 
the  pojie  is  the  Man  of  sin,  and  the  priesthood,  as  a 
body,  is  more  degenerate  than  the  men  who  procured  the 
death  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  whole  hierarchy  is  a 
putrefaction,  and  should  be  buried  so  deep  that  it  shall 
never  again  pollute  the  air  or  have  a  resurrection. 
^^  Prove  that  the  Church  is  corrupt/'  said  the  i)eoplc. 
He  said,  "  I  will ;"  and  he  did  it.  His  lone  voice  in 
St.  Andrews  church  reached  farther  than  the  walls 
that  shut  him  in.  All  Scotland  heard  it,  and  was 
moved  as  by  an  earthquake.  Converts  to  the  Refor- 
mation multiplied  as  the  drops  of  the  morning.  Rome 
was  alarmed.  Something  must  be  done,  and  done  quick- 
ly. A  French  fleet  hastens  to  St.  Andrews.  The  peo- 
ple see  the  white  sails  at  the  foot  of  every  street,  and 
soon  discover  that  they  are  surrounded  by  the  enemy. 
Then  comes  the  contest,  but  it  is  unequal.  The  gar- 
rison surrenders.  The  castle  is  taken.  John  Knox 
and  many  others  go  aboard  the  French  galleys,  and, 
in  violation  of  solemn  pledges,  are  bound  with  chains. 
They  are  conveyed  to  France.  The  ships  which  cany 
them  lie  in  the  river  Loire.  The  heretics  are  command- 
ed to  recant,  and  are  threatened  with  tortures  if  they 
refuse.  They  say  they  are  ready  to  die,  but  not  to  deny 
the  faith.  Once  the  galleys  returned  to  the  vicinity  of 
St.  Andrews,  and  when  John  Knox  saw  the  spire  of  the 
parish  chapel,  though  denied  his  liberty  and  sick  of  a 

26 


376  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

fever,  he  said,  "  I  shall  not  depart  this  life  until  that 
my  tongue  shall  glorify  God's  goodly  name  in  that 
place/'  The  fleet  returned  to  France.  After  nineteen 
months  of  imprisonment  it  was  supposed  that  heresy 
had  received  its  deathblow  in  the  consent  of  the  Scotch 
Parliament  to  the  marriage  of  the  beautiful  queen  Mary 
to  the  dauphin  of  France,  and  in  the  belief  of  this  Knox 
was  contemptuously  liberated.  For  Rome  it  was  a  great 
blunder.  John  Knox  is  greater  than  the  Scottish  queen, 
a  mightier  factor  in  the  world's  history  than  the  thrones 
of  Scotland  and  France  combined.  The  day  shall 
prove  it. 

After  his  liberation  Knox  sojourned  for  a  time  in 
London.  The  Reformation  had  made  some  advance  in 
England,  but  the  deplorable  ignorance  of  the  clergy  and 
their  general  unfitness  as  teachers  brought  reproach  upon 
the  Protestant  Church  and  endangered  its  continuance. 
There  was  an  urgent  need  for  great  minds  to  guide  the 
people — minds  that  could  rise  above  all  the  superstitions 
and  sophistries  of  Rome  and  demonstrate  the  overwhelm- 
ing importance  of  the  issues  involved.  Then  Knox  was 
again  summoned  to  active  service.  He  threw  his  mighty 
energies  into  the  work.  His  trumpet  gave  no  uncertain 
sound.  The  corruptions  of  the  papacy  were  set  forth  in 
unmistakable  and  convincing  terms.  His  appeals  to  piety 
and  patriotism  determined  many  to  espouse  the  Protest- 
ant faith. 

His  growing  popularity  suggested  his  permanent  set- 
tlement in  London,  and  Archbishop  Cranmer  appointed 
him  to  the  vacant  living  of  All  Hallows  in  that  city. 
This  tempting  benefice  was  promptly  declined  He  as- 
signed as  his  reason  for  so  doing  his  conviction  that  the 


JOHN  KNOX,   THE  REFORMER   OF  SCOTLAND.   ;J77 

English  Church  itself  needed  to  be  reformed.  It  had 
not  taken  sufficiently  high  ground.  There  was  a  tempor- 
izing with  corruption  and  an  adherence  to  popish  forms 
which  were  exceedingly  distasteful  to  Knox,  and,  as  he 
believed,  greatly  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  Refor- 
mation. It  was  about  this  time  that  Edward  VI.  offered 
him  a  bishopric.  But  he  was  not  to  be  bought  even  at 
such  a  price. 

He  objected  to  the  dogma  that  there  was  no  ordina- 
tion to  the  ministry  except  by  the  imposition  of  the 
hands  of  a  bishop.  He  protested  against  the  retention 
in  the  English  Church  of  ignorant  clergy  whose  ser- 
vices consisted  in  the  mumbling  of  prayers,  the  sing- 
ing of  the  Litany  and  the  chanting  of  vespers.  They 
were  not  competent  to  teach.  By  their  necessities  the 
people  pleaded  for  the  bread  of  life,  and  these  priests 
could  not  give  it — for  a  sight  of  Jesus,  and  they  could 
not  impart  what  they  themselves  did  not  possess.  Then, 
too,  the  Church  made  little  distinction  between  virtue 
and  vice.  Notoriously  wicked  persons  came  to  the 
Lord^s  table,  and  there  was  no  effort  to  exclude  them. 
Church  discipline  was  unknown. 

To  the  mind  of  Knox,  under  such  an  order  of  things 
reversion  to  popery  was  only  a  question  of  time,  and  on 
the  accession  of  Queen  Mary  to  the  throne  of  England 
it  came.  Under  the  reign  of  Mary  all  the  fears  of  the 
Reformer  were  more  than  realized.  The  Reformation 
had  brought  some  liberty  of  conscience  to  England  ; 
tlie  restored  i^apacy  denied  it.  Persecution  was  revived. 
The  heavens  were  red  with  flames  and  the  earth  with 
blood. 

Knox  was  urged  by  his  friends  to  go  to  the  Continent, 


378  ROMANISM  AND  THE  BEFOBMEBS. 

but  he  refused.  They  besought  him  with  tears,  for  his 
own  sake,  for  theirs,  for  the  cause  he  had  so  bravely 
espoused.  He  at  last  yielded  to  their  importuuity  and 
crossed  the  Euglish  Channel  to  Dieppe.  There  he  lin- 
gered for  a  while,  that  he  might  receive  some  intelligence 
from  England ;  then  traveled  into  France  and  Switzer- 
land. After  a  time  he  returned  to  Dieppe,  anxious  to 
receive  tidings  from  home,  and  again  set  out  for  Switz- 
erland. The  fame  of  Calvin  had  spread  over  all 
Europe.  Geneva  was  his  home,  and  hither  Knox  re- 
paired. 

The  meeting  of  these  two  men  was  an  important 
event.  The  representatives  of  the  Reformation  in  Eng- 
land and  Switzerland  clasped  hands.  Their  hearts 
flowed  together.  A  tender  affection  was  formed  that 
day  which  grew  with  the  years  and  was  never  disturbed 
or  broken.  I 

We  cannot  speak  at  length  of  Knox's  subsequent 
labors  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  where  he  preached  to 
English  refugees,  was  disturbed  in  his  work  by  an  un- 
happy division  in  the  Church,  and  was  constrained  to 
abandon  it  to  others.  Again  he  returned  to  Geneva, 
waiting  patiently  for  the  time  when  he  might  resume 
his  labors  in  his  own  land. 

Here  for  the  present  we  shall  leave  the  Reformer. 
In  that  quiet  retreat  he  prepared  himself  for  a  grander 
career.  His  relations  to  Calvin  were  helpful.  His 
study  of  God's  word  in  the  original  languages  fitted 
him  for  the  more  effective  defence  of  the  truth.  As  he 
worshiped  in  the  great  cathedral  which  crowned  the  hill, 
as  he  walked  in  though tfulness  along  the  shores  of  Lake 
Leman,  as  he  looked  on  the  green  hills  which  cast  their 


JOHN  KNOX,   THE  REFORMER   OF  SCOTLAND.  379 

shadows  at  evening  over  the  peaceful  expanse  of  waters, 
as  he  gazed  at  the  snow-capped  Alps,  Mont  Blanc  pierc- 
ing the  clouds,  its  summit  lost  to  sight  in  the  unclouded 
heavens, — his  soul  was  expanded  and  uplifted  ;  his  rev- 
erence for  God,  who  spread  these  scenes  of  grandeur 
and  beauty  about  him,  became  a  deeper  sentiment  of  the 
heart ;  his  faith  in  the  power  of  Him  who  setteth  fast 
the  mountains — a  power  which  can  evoke  good  out  of 
evil,  call  the  morning  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  night, 
and  reduce  the  strong  passions  of  men  to  a  calm  like 
that  of  yonder  lake — multiplied  its  strength  ;  and  Scot- 
land waits  the  return  of  the  man  who  shall  roll  away 
the  stone  from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  that  the  glori- 
ous evangel  may  go  abroad  on  its  beneficent  mission. 


I 

JOHN  KNOX:    LATER  WORK  IN  SCOTLAND, 


"  Then  contended  I  with  the  rulers,  and  said,  Why  is  the 
ho-h  se  of  God  forsakeii  f ' 

Neh.   13  :  II. 

"  Scotland  heard  him  zuith  the  marrow  of  her  bo7ies.'' 

Carijsle. 

"  //  is  the  duty  of  civil  magistrates  to  protect  the  persoiis  and 
good  name  of  all  their  people,  in  such  an  effectual  manner  as 
that  710  perso7i  be  suffered,  either  upon  pretence  of  religion  or 
i7/fdelity,  to  offer  any  i7idignity,  violence,  abuse,  or  injury  to 
a7iy  other  person  whatsoever :  a7id  to  take  order,  that  all  i-elig- 
ious  and  ecclesiastical  assemblies  be  held  without  7nolestation 
or  disturba7ice.'' 

Con.  Faith,  chap,  xxiit.  sec.  iii. 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER  WORK  IN  SCOTLAND. 


TT7E  have  traced  the  history  of  the  Reformation  in 
*  ^  Scotland  from  its  beginning  to  the  time  of  John 
Knox's  banishment  to  the  Continent  after  the  accession 
of  Bloody  Mary  to  the  English  throne.  We  shall  now 
review  his  later  work  in  his  own  country. 

To  roll  back  the  clouds  which  overhung  Scotland  and 
let  the  cheerful,  life-giving  light  of  heaven  down ;  to 
lift  a  galling  yoke  from  the  necks  of  a  people  than 
whom,  in  all  the  elements  of  intellectual  strength  and 
moral  courage  when  directed  by  the  truth,  there  was 
not  a  nobler  people  under  the  sun  ;  to  make  known  the 
evangel  to  sin-oppressed,  careworn  and  eternity-bound 
souls,  and  so  point  the  way  to  holiness,  hope  and  heaven, 
—this  was  the  mission  of  John  Knox  and  his  cola- 
borers. 

This  Reformer,  now  in  Switzerland,  learning  that  it 
was  possible  for  him — as  a  result,  perhaps,  of  friendly 
mediation — to  return  to  his  native  country,  made  ready 
for  his  journey  thither. 

Five  years  had  elapsed  since  he  was  exiled  from 
England,  yet  in  the  mean  time  he  had  made  a  hasty 
visit  to  Scotland.  For  two  years  he  ministered  to  the 
English  congregation  in  Geneva.  Here  he  had  dwelt 
in  peace,  happy  in  the  companionship  of  his  beloved 
wife  and  in  the  birth  of  two  sons.     Had  he  consulted 

383 


384  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

persoual  and  domestic  comfort,  he  would  have  tarried 
in  that  peaceful  retreat,  but  the  Master  called  him  back 
to  a  life  of  hard  service  crowded  with  dangers,  and  he 
was  prompt  to  obey. 

He  bade  farewell  to  Calvin  for  the  last  time.  He 
turned  quickly  yet  sadly  away  from  the  beautiful  Geneva, 
then  hastened  to  the  land  of  his  birth  and  to  the  Kirk, 
weak  and  frighted,  which  longed  for  his  coming. 
Denied  a  passage  through  England,  he  sailed  directly 
from  Dieppe  to  Leith,  Scotland,  and  arrived  at  a  most 
critical  period. 

The  queen  regent,  who  had  seemed  to  oscillate  be- 
tween papacy  and  the  Reformation,  at  heart  an  enemy 
of  the  latter,  came  boldly  out  in  opposition  to  it,  and 
declared  that  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation  ^^  should  be 
banished  from  Scotland,  although  they  preached  as 
truly  as  ever  Paul  did."  The  Protestant  ministers 
were  summoned  to  appear  at  Stirling  for  immediate 
trial.  Knox  rested  but  a  day  at  Edinburgh,  then  hast- 
ened to  Dundee,  and  thence,  in  company  with  the  prin- 
cipal adherents  to  the  evangelical  religion,  journeyed 
toward  Stirling.  Ari-ived  at  Perth,  the  regent  directed 
their  journey  to  be  arrested.  She  feared  Knox  and  the 
^^  Congregation,"  as  the  Protestants  were  then  called, 
and  professed  to  have  concluded  upon  a  conciliatory 
policy.  But  the  day  of  trial  having  come,  the  accused 
parties  were  '^  outlawed  for  not  appearing,"  and  the 
power  of  the  realm  was  evoked   for  their  destruction. 

Tidings  of  this  disgraceful  })rocedure  reached  Perth 
just  as  Knox  had  concluded  a  sermon  on  "the  idolatry 
of  the  mass  and  image-worship."  The  people  were 
quietly  and  sadly  dispersing  when  a  Romish  priest,  to 


JOHN  KNOX:    LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    385 

show  his  contempt  of  the  preacher  and  his  doctrine,  un- 
covered an  altar  which  had  been  prepared  for  tlie  occa- 
sion and  made  ready  to  celebrate  the  mass.  The  rougher 
portion  of  the  congregation  and  others  who  sympathized 
with  them,  yielding  to  sudden  passion,  destroyed  the 
altar  and  its  images,  trampling  upon  the  fragments,  and 
then,  swept  on  by  their  wrath,  assailed  the  monasteries 
of  the  town  and  utterly  overthrew  them. 

This  riotous  proceeding,  though  severely  condemned 
by  Knox  and  the  chief  leaders  of  the  Protestants, 
brought  great  injury  to  the  Reformation.  It  aroused 
the  fury  of  the  papists,  and  for  a  time  a  disastrous  war 
seemed  inevitable.  But  this  was  averted  throucrh  the 
influence  of  the  duke  of  Argyle  and  the  prior  of  St. 
Andrews,  who  were  at  the  same  time  friends  of  the  Ref- 
ormation and  supporters  of  the  regent. 

It  was  then  determined  by  the  Protestants  to  repair 
to  St.  Andrews,  where  the  adherents  of  the  Reformation 
were  in  the  ascendency,  and  establish  Protestant  worship 
in  that  place.  As  they  approached  the  old  town  and 
saw  the  spire  of  the  cathedral  lifted  above  the  trees, 
John  Knox's  prophecy  when  a  prisoner  on  the  French 
galleys,  that  he  would  live  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ 
in  the  parish  church,  was  at  once  recalled. 

The  archbishop  of  St.  xindrews,  hearing  that  Knox 
proposed  to  preach  in  the  cathedral,  collected  a  number 
of  armed  men,  and  notified  him  that  if  he  attempted  to 
address  the  people  he  would  do  it  at  the  peril  of  his  life. 
The  Reformer  was  urged  by  the  noblemen  to  preserve 
silence.  But  he  believed  that  to  yield  to  this  opposition 
would  be  to  endanger  the  Reformation.  It  would  be  a 
confession  of  weakness  and  a  submissioD  to  unrighteous 


386  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

authority.  It  was  now  a  question  of  life  and  death,  not 
of  one  man,  but  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

Persuaded  of  this,  Knox  announced  that  he  would 
preach  on  the  following  day.  To  his  enemies  he  said, 
"  I  call  God  to  witness  that  I  never  preached  in  con- 
tempt of  any  man  nor  with  the  design  of  hurting  any 
earthly  creature,  but  to  delay  to  preach  on  the  morrow, 
unless  forcibly  hindered,  I  cannot  agree.''  To  his  friends 
he  said,  "As  for  the  fear  of  danger  that  may  come  to  me, 
let  no  man  be  solicitous,  for  my  life  is  in  the  custody  of 
Him  whose  glory  I  seek.  I  desire  the  hand  or  weapon 
of  no  man  to  defend  me.  I  only  crave  audience, 
which  if  it  be  denied  me  here  at  this  time,  I  must  seek 
where  I  may  have  it.'' 

These  were  manly  words.  They  declare  a  mcjral 
courage  and  faith  in  God  which  lift  John  Knox  far 
above  the  ordinary  grade  of  human  life.  Gleaming 
swords  and  the  red  hand  of  a  violent  archbishop  up- 
lifted to  smite  him  fail  to  intimidate  the  great  Reformer. 
He  stands  in  his  purpose  immovable  as  Ben  Lomond, 
which  from  a  serene  heaven  looks  down  on  the  inferior 
hills. 

The  day  comes.  The  sun  struggles  through  the  mists 
which  overhang  the  town.  The  attention  of  the  people 
is  turned  now  toward  the  castle,  where  the  soldiery  wait 
the  command  of  the  archbishop  to  do  their  work  of 
death,  and  again  to  the  parish  church,  toward  which  a 
multitude  are  quietly  wending  their  way.  The  liour  of 
service  is  come.  John  Knox  passes  fearlessly  down  the 
street,  enters  the  church,  ascends  the  pulpit,  before  him 
a  sea  of  human  faces,  around  him  a  company  of  guard- 
ian angels,  the  rustling  of  invisible  wings  almost  heard 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    ;j87 

as  in  tlie  breathless  silence  of  the  people  he  rises  in  his 
place. 

He  discoursed  on  the  casting  out  of  the  profane  traf- 
fickers from  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  and  was  thus  led 
to  speak  of  the  corruptions  that  had  been  introduced 
into  the  Church  under  the  papacy.  He  pronounced  tiie 
removal  of  these  a  duty,  and  repeated  this  opinion  on 
several  consecutive  days,  during  which  he  preached  with 
great  earnestness  to  large  assemblies.  The  result  was 
the  establishment  of  the  Reformed  worship  in  St.  An- 
drews, the  removal  of  all  images  and  pictures  from  the 
church,  and  the  utter  demolition  of  the  monasteries 
which  had  corrupted  and  disgraced  the  town. 

Knox  has  been  condemned  for  this  destruction  of 
buildings  which  art  had  beautified,  though  they  were 
consecrated  to  superstition.  There  is  a  species  of  idol- 
atry which  substitutes  the  aesthetics  of  religion  for  its 
divine  power.  Representations  of  Christ,  the  Virgin 
Mary  and  the  saints,  whether  in  wood  or  stone  or  cast 
upon  the  canvas,  intercept  a  spiritual  view  of  the  only 
true  object  of  worship ;  and  great  cathedrals  with  naves 
and  transepts  and  choir  and  high  arches,  and,  surmount- 
ing all,  quaint  and  massive  towers  climbing  heavenward, 
may  under  the  tuition  of  Rome  receive  the  homage 
which  is  due  to  Him  whose  temple  is  the  universe, 
and  who  will  not  suffer  his  glory  to  be  transferred  to 
the  works  of  men's  hands. 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the  worship  of  the 
Romish  Church  at  this  period  was  almost  exclusively 
idolatrous.  At  the  same  time,  great  cathedrals  and  the 
grim  old  monasteries  which  had  witnessed  the  passing 
away  of  generations  were  among  the  chief  supports  of  the 


388  ROMANISM  AND  THE  BEFOBMEBS. 

papacy.  St.  Peter's,  St.  Paul's  and  the  Lateran  church 
of  Kome  at  the  present  day  sustain  this  relation  to  modern 
popery,  and  many  are  determined  to  a  false  religion  by 
the  grandeur  of  its  temples. 

Knox  instructed  the  people  that  "the  best  way  to 
keep  the  rooks  from  returning  was  to  pull  down  their 
nests ;"  and  they  acted  upon  the  hint.  And  not  only 
was  this  work  speedily  accomplished  in  St.  Andrews, 
but  also  in  Stirling,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  Linlithgow 
and  the  leading  cities  of  the  kingdom.  The  times  de- 
manded extreme  measures.  We  must  not  judge  the  Re- 
formers of  that  age  by  the  rules  which  obtain  in  this. 
We  believe  that  God  raised  them  up  for  an  unusual  yet 
needful  work,  and  they  did  it.  The  results  justify  the 
wisdom  of  their  course. 

A  few  months  later  John  Knox  set  out  on  an  ex- 
tended tour  through  Scotland.  He  preached  at  Kelso, 
Jedburgh,  Ayr,  Stirling,  Perth,  Montrose  and  Dundee. 
His  brave  denunciation  of  corruption,  accompanied  by 
fervid  portrayals  of  the  fulhiess  of  the  glorious  gospel, 
stirred  the  souls  of  all  who  heard  him.  As  Carlyle  has 
said,  "The  Scotch  people  heard  him  with  the  marrow  of 
their  bones."  The  yoke  which  Pome  imposed  was  cast 
oflP.  The  truth  shone  into  minds  long  darkened  by 
superstition,  and  gladder  Te  Deums  were  raised  in 
open  fields  and  sheltered  glens  than  had  ever  been 
sung  in  the  great  cathedrals  of  Glasgow  or  Stirling. 
The  people  were  released  from  the  domination  of  a 
corrupt  priesthood.  They  had  found  Christ.  Tliey 
had  planted  their  feet  on  the  King's  highway  of  holi- 
ness, and  they  were  going  heavenward  with  palms  in 
their  hands  and  crowns  on  their  heads.     How  great  the 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    389 

chaDge  already  wrought!  It  was  life  from  the  dead. 
"It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvelous  in  our 
eyes.'' 

On  the  24th  of  August,  1560,  the  Scottish  Parlia- 
ment terminated  by  a  solemn  act  the  papal  jurisdiction 
and  all  authority  flowing  therefrom.  But  it  substituted 
nothing.  It  simply  left  the  Church  at  liberty  to  legis- 
late for  itself.  There  is  here  no  union  of  Church  and 
State.  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.  The 
only  recognized  Head  of  the  Keformed  Church  of  Scot- 
land was  the  Lord  himself,  and  to  his  commands  his 
loyal  subjects  were  ready  to  bow. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
met  for  the  first  time  on  the  20th  of  the  following 
December  (1560).  A  confession  of  faith  had  already 
been  adopted.  The  Assembly  addressed  itself  to  the 
preparation  of  a  complete  system  of  ecclesiastical  gov- 
ernment. "  They  took  not  their  example,"  says  Row, 
"  from  any  Church  in  the  world ;  no,  not  from  Geneva." 
They  drew  their  plans — so  they  believed — from  tlie 
word  of  God.  It  was  Presbyterianism.  They  insisted 
it  could  not  well  be  anything  else.  It  was  the  syn- 
agogue of  the  New  Testament  Church.  It  was  the 
Presbyterianism  which  had  lived  through  all  the  Dark 
Ages,  preserved  by  the  Waldenses  in  the  mountain  re- 
treats of  Northern  Italy,  a  people  who  refused  to  be 
called  Protestants,  since  they  had  never  formed  any  part 
of  the  Romish  Church.  They  alone  were  the  lineal 
descendants  of  the  apostolic  Church.  Papacy  had  apos- 
tatized from  the  truth. 

The  ordinary  permanent  officers  of  the  Scottish 
Church  were  three — the  minister  or  pastor ;  the  ruling 


390  ROMANISM  AND  TEE  REFORMERS. 

elder,  who  assisted  the  minister  in  the  exercise  of  church 
discipline  ;  and  the  deacon,  who  had  charge  of  the  rev- 
enues of  the  church  and  the  care  of  the  poor. 

A  board  of  trustees  was  unknown.  As  the  number 
of  ministers  was  inadequate  for  the  supply  of  all  the 
churches,  persons  of  known  piety  were  selected  to  read 
the  Scriptures  and  conduct  the  devotional  exercises  on 
the  Sabbath.  If  these  made  sufficient  advance  in  knowl- 
edge and  were  competent  to  teach,  they  were,  after  due 
examination,  appointed  exhorters.  The  great  needs  of 
our  day  suggest  the  revival  of  this  scriptural  custom. 
There  were  also  ministers  who  were  commissioned  to 
take  the  oversight  of  large  districts.  They  were  itine- 
rant preachers  and  had  the  care  of  vacant  churches;  hence 
the  name  of  superintendents  by  which  they  were  usually 
known.  This  arrangement  was  suggested  by  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  times. 

The  Church  held  to  the  parity  of  the  ministry.  The 
office  of  bishop,  in  the  papal  or  episcopal  sense,  was  not 
recognized  as  of  divine  authority.  The  dogma  of  apos- 
tolic succession  was  repudiated  as  unscriptural.  Besides, 
what  Scotchman  would  consent  to  receive  ordination  at 
the  hands  of  a  Romish  bishop,  or  trace  his  ministerial 
descent  from  the  apostles  through  the  corrupt  Church 
out  of  which  he  had  just  come?  His  ordination  must 
conform  to  that  of  Timothy's,  and  by  the  laying  on  of 
the  hands  of  the  Presbytery  he  is  set  apart  to  his  sacred 
office. 

On  the  Lord's  Day  the  people  assembled  twice  for 
public  worship.  The  second  service  was  held  in  the 
afternoon,  and  catechising  was  substituted  for  preaching. 
There  was  also  a  weekly  meeting  for  the  expounding  of 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    391 

tlie  Scriptures  aud  for  other  religious  exercises.  The 
Lord^s  Supper  was  admiuistered  four  times  a  year,  and 
the  ordiuauce  of  baptism,  always  accompanied  by  preach- 
ing or  other  religious  service,  was  admiuistered  as  cir- 
cumstances required.  This  was  more  than  three  hun- 
dred years  ago. 

Provision  was  further  made  for  the  education  of  the 
young.  Schools  were  established  as  far  as  practicable  in 
every  parish,  aud  in  connection  with  grammar  and  Latin 
the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  were  taught. 
The  question  of  the  Bible  in  the  school  was  not  mooted 
in  those  days.  These  Scotch  Presbyterians  believed  that 
any  education  was  singularly  incomplete  which  did  not  em- 
brace moral  as  well  as  intellectual  culture,  and  they  were 
careful  as  to  the  intelligence  aud  piety  of  those  who  had 
charge  of  their  children  in  the  most  interesting  and  the 
most  important,  because  the  formative,  period  of  life. 

Eight  months  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Scottish  Church,  when  the  Reformation 
was  fully  launched  on  the  quiet  waters — a  season  of  calm 
after  a  long  tempestuous  period — Mary,  the  queen  of 
the  Scots,  whose  husband.  King  Francis  II.  of  France, 
was  then  deceased,  returned  to  Scotland.  This  occurred 
Aug.  19,  1561.  Mary  was  then  in  the  nineteenth  year 
of  her  age.  Her  great  personal  beauty,  winning  ad- 
dress and  native  genius,  joined  with  the  accomplishments 
acquired  in  the  schools  and  in  the  fashionable  society  of 
France,  were  such  as  to  attract  even  the  rugged  Scots. 
They  were  proud  of  their  beautiful  queen,  and  to  this 
day,  although  there  rests  upon  her  memory  a  cloud  that 
may  never  be  lifted,  the  Scotch  people  speak  tenderly  of 
Mary  Stuart,  hoping  against  hope  that  at  some  time  and 

26 


392  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

in  some  way  the  overhaDging  cloud  may  yet  divide  and 
let  down  a  little  of  heaven's  light  on  her  royal  tomb  in 
the  old  Westminster  Abbey. 

Mary's  return  to  Scotland  was  greeted  with  many 
demonstrations  of  joy.  All  Edinburgh  was  alive  with 
enthusiasm.  High  street  was  brilliant  with  banners, 
and  from  the  windows  of  the  quaint  old  houses  bonny 
lassies  waved  their  welcome  as  the  royal  pageant  passed 
by  on  its  way  to  the  palace. 

But  there  were  some  who  did  not  share  in  this  joy. 
They  saw  a  little  cloud  on  the  horizon  which  they  feared 
might  grow  and  darken  the  sky.  They  had  just  been 
delivered  from  the  bondage  of  the  papal  hierarchy,  and 
thought  they  saw  a  prosperous,  happy  Church  reaching 
down  the  long  perspective  of  years. 

Mary  was  a  devout  Romanist.  She  at  once  erected  an 
altar  in  her  chapel  and  the  mass  was  said  by  a  Romish 
priest.  This  was  the  little  cloud,  and,  although  the  sky 
was  clear,  yet  there  were  heard  in  the  distance  the  mut- 
terings  of  an  approaching  storm.  A  stern  voice  with  a 
clarion  riug  that  awakened  Scotland  to  apprehensions  of 
danger  was  heard  :  '^  Shall  we  suffer  that  idol  (popery) 
to  be  erected  within  this  realm  ?"  It  was  declared  that 
"  one  mass  was  more  terrible  than  ten  thousand  armed 
men  landed  to  invade  the  kingdom.''  Prayers  were 
offered  in  the  churches  that  God  would  deliver  the 
queen  from  papal  superstition  and  bring  her  into  sym- 
pathy with  the  Reformed  religion ;  or,  if  that  great 
blessing  were  denied,  that  Scotland  might  at  any  cost 
maintain  the  pure  evangel. 

Mary  was  quick  to  recognize  the  powerful  influence 
of  Knox.     The  restoration  of  the  papacy  could  not  be 


JOHN  KNOX:   LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    IVJl'j 

accomplished  unless  his  power  was  broken.  Perhai>s 
elie  can  at  least  silence  his  opposition  to  her  religion. 
May  she  not  even  now,  by  flattery,  restore  him  to  the 
bosom  of  the  Cliurch,  and  so  settle  all  questions  con- 
cerning its  re-establishment  in  Scotland?  As  soon 
think  to  move  Arthur's  Seat  from  its  place  or  reverse 
the  course  of  the  Clyde  by  a  mermaid's  song.  Mary 
made  the  trial.  She  had  been  in  Edinburgh  but  a  few 
days  when  she  sent  for  the  Reformer,  and  held  an  ex- 
tended interview  witli  him  in  the  presence  of  her  brotlier, 
the  prior  of  St.  Andrews.  The  deportment  of  Knox  on 
this  occasion  has  been  misrepresented.  Hume  evinces 
his  hostility  to  evangelical  religion  by  apologizing  for 
Mary  and  condemning  Knox,  declaring  the  truth  con- 
cerning neither.  John  Knox  was  not  guilty  of  any 
contempt  of  authority  or  discourtesy  to  a  woman  in 
expressing  his  views  on  the  great  questions  of  the  day, 
and  especially  when  he  was  ostensibly  summoned  into 
the  presence  of  his  queen  to  do  this  very  thing.  In  the 
course  of  this  interview  she  charged  him  with  having 
taught  the  people  to  adopt  a  religion  different  from  that 
which  was  approved  by  their  princes.  To  this  he  re- 
plied that  true  religion  derived  its  authority  from  God  ; 
that  princes  were  often  most  ignorant  on  this  point;  that 
subjects  w^ere  not  bound  to  frame  their  religious  senti- 
ments and  practices  according  to  the  arbitrary  will  of 
their  rulers,  else  the  Hebrews  ought  to  have  conformed 
to  the  religion  of  Pharaoh,  Daniel  and  his  associates  to 
that  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  Darius,  and  the  ]->rimitive 
Christians  to  that  of  the  Roman  emperors.  "Yea," 
replied  the  queen,  "  but  none  of  these  men  raised  the 
sword   against   their   princes.      Think   you"   she   con- 


394  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

tinued,  "that  subjects,  having  the  power,  may  resist 
their  princes  ?''  He  answered,  "  If  princes  exceed 
their  bound,  madam,  no  doubt  they  may  be  resisted, 
even  by  power.  For  no  greater  honor  or  greater  obedi- 
ence is  to  be  given  to  kings  and  princes  than  God  has 
commanded  to  be  given  to  father  and  mother.  But  tlie 
father  may  be  struck  with  a  frenzy  in  which  he  would 
slay  his  children.  Now,  madam,  if  the  children  arise, 
join  together,  apprehend  the  father,  take  the  sword  from 
him,  bind  his  hands  and  keep  him  in  prison  until  the 
frenzy  be  over,  think  you,  madam,  that  the  children  do 
any  wrong?  Even  so,  madam,  it  is  with  princes  that 
would  murder  the  children  of  God  that  are  subject  unto 
them.  Their  blind  zeal  is  nothing  but  a  mad  frenzy ; 
therefore  to  take  the  sword  from  them,  to  bind  their 
hands  and  to  cast  them  into  prison  till  they  be  brought 
to  a  more  sober  mind  is  no  disobedience  against  princes, 
but  just  obedience,  because  it  agreeth  with  the  will  of 
God." 

After  a  brief  silence  the  queen  replied  with  deep 
emotion,  "  Well,  then,  I  perceive  that  my  subjects  should 
obey  you  and  not  me,  and  will  do  what  they  please,  and 
not  what  I  command,  and  so  mnst  I  be  subject  to  them 
and  not  they  to  me." — "God  forbid,"  replied  Knox, 
"  that  ever  I  take  upon  me  to  command  any  one  to  obey 
me  or  to  set  subjects  at  liberty  to  do  whatever  pleases 
them  !  But  my  concern  is  that  both  princes  and  subjects 
may  obey  God.  And  this  subjection,  madam,  to  God 
and  his  Church  is  the  greatest  dignity  that  flesh  can  get 
upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  for  it  shall  raise  them  to  ever- 
lasting glory." — "  But  you  are  not  the  Church  that  I 
will   nourish,"    said   the   queen;    "I   will    defend   the 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    ;59rj 

Church  of  Rome,  for  it  is,  I  thiuk,  the  true  Churcli  of 
God/'— "Your  will,  madam,''  replied  the  Reformer, 
'Ms  DO  reason,  neither  doth  your  thought  make  the 
Roman  harlot  to  be  the  true  and  immaculate  spouse  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Wonder  not,  madam,  that  I  call  Rome 
an  harlot,  for  that  Church  is  altogether  polluted  with 
all  kinds  of  spiritual  fornication,  both  in  doctrine  and 
manners." 

This  was  unquestionably  plain  talk.  The  Reformer's 
trumpet  gave  no  uncertain  sound.  Some  are  of  the 
opinion  that  on  this  occasion  it  blew  too  strong  a  blast — 
that  if  he  was  made  of  such  stuff  that  he  could  not  help 
speaking  his  real  sentiments,  he  should  have  done  it  in 
milder  and  more  courteous  terms.  We  confess  we  can- 
not see  the  absence  of  courtesy  or  of  respect  to  authority 
in  our  Reformer's  address.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that 
the  spiritual  interests  of  a  realm  were  at  stake,  and  the 
civil  liberties  of  Scotland  as  well. 

John  Knox  had  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the 
case,  and  "  was  more  kingly  than  all  the  race  of  the 
Stuarts."  He  had  traveled  heights  and  explored  depths 
the  young  queen  had  never  seen,  and  he  brought  back 
faithful  report  of  dangers  to  be  shunned,  and  uttered 
convictions  of  duty  which  subsequent  history  has  sliown 
to  be  founded  on  eternal  truth.  As  a  true  man,  as  a 
patriot,  as  a  friend  of  his  sovereign,  he  could  not  have 
said  less ;  and  as  for  the  tone  of  his  address,  though  in- 
tensely earnest,  it  was  as  respectful  as  it  was  firm.  Had 
he  been  a  temporizer,  as  was  Erasmus,  or  as  pacific  as 
Melanchthon,  the  Reformation  \YOuld  have  been  strangled 
in  its  cradle,  and  Scotland  would  have  reverted  to  bar- 
barism  and  the  cruel  domination  of  Rome.     The  times 


396  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

required  a  brave  man  and  true — one  who  could  speak 
his  Heaven-inspired  convictions  even  with  a  sword  at 
his  throat;  and  God,  who  sent  Nathan  to  reprove  King 
David  and  Elijah  to  condemn  tiie  wicked  Ahab  in  the 
vineyard,  commissioned  John  Knox  to  utter  in  the 
audience-hall  of  Holyrood  Palace  the  principles  of  ever- 
lasting truth,  the  only  sure  foundation  of  domestic  peace, 
of  beneficent  rule  and  of  human  salvation. 

The  interview  being  brought  to  a  close,  Knox  passed 
quietly  out  with  the  expression  of  a  wish  that  was 
sincere  and  kind  :  ^'  I  pray  God,  madam,  that  you  may 
be  as  blessed  w^ithin  the  commonwealth  of  Scotland  as 
ever  Deborah  was  in  the  commonwealth  of  Israel.'^ 

At  this  time  Knox  preached  in  St.  Giles's  church  in 
Edinburgh,  and  frequently  addressed  three  thousand 
people.  His  sermons  were  not  models  of  rhetoric,  but, 
like  himself,  sharp  and  rugged,  and  so  direct  that  all 
knew  at  what  he  aimed.  He  loved  Scotland.  The 
wounds  he  inflicted,  being  those  of  a  friend,  were  bet- 
ter than  the  kisses  of  an  enemy. 

One  day  intelligence  was  brought  to  Edinburgh  that 
the  duke  of  Guise  had  made  an  attack  on  a  Protestant 
congregation  in  France  whilst  assembled  for  worship, 
and  had  murdered  many  of  the  defenceless  people. 
Queen  Mary  received  the  news  with  evident  satisfaction. 
The  night  following  Holyrood  was  brilliant  with  lights 
and  crowded  with  courtiers  and  friends  of  the  queen. 
Music  and  dancing  were  continued  until  the  dawn — a 
fitting  celebration  of  an  event  which  had  brought  sorrow 
to  the  homes  of  many  French  Protestants. 

St.  Giles's  church  witnessed  a  different  scene  when  the 
great  preacher  referred  to  the  massacre  in  terms  of  sad- 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    :)97 

ness  tliat  moved  iiiaiiy  to  tears,  and  in  denunciations  of 
the  act  which  provoked  to  righteous  displeasure.  False 
reports  of  this  discourse  were  carried  to  the  queen,  and 
the  Reformer  was  again  summoned  into  her  presence. 
She  charged  him  with  having  spoken  disrespectfully  of 
the  court,  aud  of  herself  iu  a  manner  calculated  to 
awaken  sentiments  of  contempt  for  their  sovereign  in 
the  minds  of  her  j)eople.  Tlie  preacher  said  there  were 
persons  then  present  who  had  heard  the  sermon,  and  he 
would  repeat  the  substance  of  it,  leaving  them  to  certify, 
if  they  were  truthful  persons,  to  the  faithfulness  of  his 
repetition.  He  admitted  he  had  said  that  some  princes 
were  more  exercised  in  music  and  dancing  than  in  read- 
ing or  in  hearing  the  word  of  God,  and  delighted  more 
in  fiddlers  and  flatterers  than  in  the  company  of  wise 
and  grave  men  who  were  capable  of  giving  them  whole- 
some counseL  But  of  charges  of  irreverence  for  Her 
Majesty,  such  as  she  had  just  repeated,  he  denied  them, 
intimating,  perhaps  somewhat  sarcastically,  that  people 
who  habitually  absented  themselves  from  church  should 
be  slow  to  give  credence  to  the  reports  they  heard  of  the 
utterances  of  the  preachers.  The  queen  dismissed  him 
with  the  remark  that  his  sermon  had  been  misrepresent- 
ed. And  as  the  ground  of  the  complaint  was  proved 
to  be  false,  her  disappointment  was  as  great  as  his  satis- 
fliction  was  complete. 

Their  third  interview  was  at  Lochleven,  in  which 
Mary  resorted  to  ingenious  artifice  to  accomplish  her 
designs  against  the  Reformation,  but  failed  in  her  en- 
deavors. 

They  met  for  the  fourth  and  last  time  at  Holyrood.  As 
Knox  entered  she  burst  into  tears,  saying  that  never  had  a 


398  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

prince  been  handled  as  she  had  been,  and  added,  ^'  I  vow 
to  God  I  shall  be  at  once  revenged."  He  had  objected  to 
her  marriage  with,  a  Roman  Catholic.  She  inquired, 
'^  What  have  you  to  do  with  my  marriage  ?  What  are 
you  in  this  commonwealth  ?"  He  calmly  stated  the 
grounds  of  his  objection  to  an  alliance  with  a  devotee 
of  Rome.  She  continued  weeping,  and  he  said  he  never 
took  delight  in  the  distress  of  any  creature ;  it  was  w^ith 
difficulty  he  could  see  his  own  boys  weep  when  he  cor- 
rected them  for  their  faults,  and  far  less  could  he  rejoice 
in  Her  Majesty's  tears ;  but,  seeing  he  had  given  her  no 
just  reason  for  offence  and  had  only  discharged  his  duty, 
he  was  constrained,  though  unwillingly,  to  sustain  her 
tears  rather  than  hurt  his  conscience  or  betray  the  com- 
monwealth by  his  silence. 

Subsequently  he  w^as  charged  with  treason  and  tried 
in  open  convention,  at  which  Mary  presided.  She  hoped 
to  crush  him  at  last,  and  urged  the  prosecution  with 
great  violence.  The  Reformer's  defence  was  clear  and 
satisfactory  to  the  majority  of  the  court,  who  voted  for 
his  honorable  acquittal  and  commended  him  for  his 
amiable  demeanor  on  the  occasion.  Even  the  bishop 
of  Ross,  who  had  been  the  queen's  informant,  deserted 
her  in  the  trial,  and  admitted  that,  having  heard  the 
case,   he  saw  nothing  in  Knox  that  was  blameworthy. 

Thus  the  queen  was  foiled  in  her  attempt  to  overcome 
the  Reformer.  He  was  invincible  as  the  truth  itself, 
and  firm  as  the  rock  which  supported  the  old  castle 
beyond  the  Lawn  Market,  which  had  defied  a  thousand 
storms  and  was  prepared  to  defy  a  thousand  more. 
The  progress  of  the  Reformed  Church  was  slow  and 
attended  with  great  difficulties.     Opposed  at  every  step 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.     391) 

by  all  the  power  of  the  throne  and  by  the  intrigues 
of  the  lords  who  adhered  to  the  Romish  faith,  it 
seemed  that  only  the  unconquerable  will  and  potential 
influence  of  Knox  prevented  a  return  to  the  })a[)a('v. 
And  it  was  so. 

For  having  delivered  a  sermon  which  gave  oflence  to 
Darnley,  he  was  commanded  by  the  privy  council  to 
desist  from  preaching  whilst  the  king  and  Mary  sojourn- 
ed in  Edinburgh.  In  the  offensive  sermon  he  had  said 
that  God  punished  wicked  Ahab  because  he  did  not 
restrain  his  idolatrous  wife  Jezebel.  Darnley  sup})osed 
the  remark  was  designed  for  him.  It  may  have  been ; 
it  may  not.  "  The  wicked  flee  when  no  man  pursueth." 
But  the  prohibition  was  of  short  continuance.  Mary 
and  her  husband  returned  to  Stirling,  one  of  her  places 
of  residence,  and  Knox  went  on  in  his  work. 

After  a  time  Darnley  professed  himself  a  papist. 
There  followed  similar  professions  by  such  leading  men 
of  the  realm  as  the  earls  of  Lenox,  Cassiles  and  Caith- 
ness, together  with  Lords  Montgomery  and  Seton.  The 
queen  was  now  encouraged  to  renew  her  effort  to  restore 
the  papacy.  In  February,  1566,  Cardinal  Lorraine 
communicated  with  Mary,  and  sent  a  copy  of  the  League 
for  the  extirpation  of  the  Protestants  and  for  severe 
piocedures  against  certain  offensive  lords,  by  which  it 
was  hoped  to  restore  Scotland  to  the  Romish  see.  Maiy 
affixed  her  signature  to  the  League  and  matured  her 
plans  for  securing  a  papal  triumph. 

There  was  a  person  of  inferior  character  attached  to 
the  household  of  the  queen  who  had  urged  this  move- 
ment against  the  Protestants  with  all  the  zeal  of  a  devout 
Romanist,  intensified  by  his  affection  for  Mary— an  uu- 


400  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

lawful  attachment  which  was  reciprocated  by  her.  He 
was  believed  to  be  an  Italian  adventurer  whose  personal 
accomplishments  had  commended  him  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  queen.  He  was  more  probably  a  disguised 
legate  of  the  papal  Church,  sent  hither  to  protect  the 
interests  of  Rome.  Mary  made  him  her  private  secre- 
tary, and  gave  him  the  affection  which  only  a  husband 
should  receive.  His  name  is  familiar  to  all  readers  of 
history — David  Kizzio.  One  evening,  whilst  the  queen, 
Rizzio  and  a  few  of  Mary's  friends  were  sitting  in  what 
was  called  the  supping-room,  a  small  apartment  in  Holy- 
rood  House,  muffled  steps  were  heard  on  the  secret 
stairway  leading  to  this  room.  A  moment  later  and 
Lord  Darnley,  pale  and  trembling,  entered,  followed  by 
armed  men,  who  seized  the  Italian  and  slew  him,  re- 
gardless of  all  the  entreaties  of  the  queen  to  spare  his 
life.  Mary  dried  her  tears  and  said,  "  Now  I  will  study 
revenge." 

The  murder  of  her  paramour,  instigated  by  Darnley, 
diverted  the  attention  of  Mary  from  her  designs  against 
the  Reformed  Church.  She  was  occupied  with  but  one 
idea,  the  avenging  of  Rizzio's  death.  The  unprincipled 
earl  of  Bothwell  w^as  ready  to  become  her  agent.  Darn- 
ley was  enticed  to  an  isolated  dwelling  in  Edinburgh, 
and  on  the  night  of  the  10th  of  February,  1569,  was 
murdered,  the  house  in  which  he  was  lying  being  blown 
up  by  gunpowder.  Mary  had  found  her  revenge.  Short- 
ly afterward  she  was  married  to  Bothwell. 

Before  the  bar  of  public  opinion  if  not  at  the  tribunal 
of  God  she  is  pronounced  a  murderer  and  an  adulteress. 
We  cannot  adopt  this  severe  judgment.  Thereafter 
— her  hands,  as    many  believe,  covered   with    blood — 


JOHN  KNOX:   LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    401 

she  is  more  unhappy  than  ever  before.  Her  energy  of 
character  deserts  her.  Her  guilt  haunts  her.  Avengers 
seem  ever  on  her  track.  Her  power  over  lier  former 
friends  is  broken.  Scotland  will  no  longer  come  at  her 
beck.  Armies  will  no  longer  fight  for  the  beautiful  but 
wicked  queen.  Both  well  is  hated  and  flees  for  his  life. 
Mary  is  a  prisoner  in  Lochleven  Castle,  makes  her 
escape,  aided  by  the  Hamiltons  and  their  allies,  at- 
tempts to  hew  her  way  back  to  the  throne,  is  defeated, 
exiled  to  England,  there  imprisoned,  and  after  long  con- 
finement is  beheaded. 

Thus  closed  the  sad  life  of  Mary  Stuart,  who  might 
have  been  one  of  the  most  beloved  of  sovereigns.  Had 
she  possessed  moral  excellence  equal  to  her  personal 
beauty  and  her  cultivated  genius,  she  would  have  out- 
shone her  rival.  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  erected  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Scotch  people  a  memorial  to  her  name 
which  would  have  been  chei'ished  by  all  succeeding 
generations.  But  she  had  little  integrity  of  charac- 
ter. Her  education  in  the  voluptuous  court  of  France 
and  in  the  pale  of  a  corrupt  Church,  which  made  little 
distinction  between  virtue  and  vice,  had  disqualified  her 
for  personal  government  and  the  exercise  of  regal  au- 
thority. In  all  history  there  are  few  sadder  chapters 
than  those  which  record  the  life  and  death  of  Mary, 
beautiful  Mary,  queen  of  the  Scots. 

Under  the  regency  of  the  earl  of  Murray  the  king- 
dom had  comparative  peace.  On  the  15th  of  December, 
1567,  the  Scottish  Parliament  confirmed  the  action  of 
1560  in  favor  of  the  Protestant  religion.  For  three 
years  the  growth  of  Protestantism  was  rapid.  It  took 
deep  root  and  extended  its  branches. 


402  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

Then  John  Knox,  worn  with  kibor,  depressed  by 
disease  and  in  the  course  of  nature  approaching  the 
end  of  life,  thought  to  lay  off  his  armor  and  compose 
himself  for  a  change  of  worlds.  But  suddenly,  with 
all  Scotland,  he  was  startled  by  the  intelligence  of  the 
good  regent's  death.  While  passing  through  a  narrow 
street  in  Linlithgow,  Murray  was  shot  and  mortally 
wounded  by  a  concealed  assassin,  the  ingrate  Hamilton, 
son  of  the  archbishop  of  St.  Andrews,  whose  life,  after 
the  battle  of  Langside,  the  regent  himself  had  spared. 
In  a  few  hours  Murray,  the  wise  ruler,  the  earnest 
Christian,  the  friend  of  the  Reformation,  a  man  of 
rare  beauty  of  character,  was  dead.  Scotland  mourned 
his  death.  John  Knox  was  almost  crushed  by  the  blow 
which  smote  down  the  beloved  regent.  Ever  memora- 
ble is  the  sermon  he  preached  over  the  remains  of  Mur- 
ray and  the  prayer  he  offered  on  the  sad  funeral  day. 

Shortly  after  this  Knox  was  stricken  with  paralysis, 
and  his  public  life  seemed  at  an  end.  But  he  recovered 
sufficiently  to  conduct  an  occasional  service.  When  the 
interests  of  the  Church  were  especially  imperiled  he  for- 
got the  weakness  of  the  flesh  and  rallied  the  wavering 
Protestants  to  the  strife  with  all  the  vigor  of  former 
days. 

Now  the  papists  have  grown  weary  of  his  resistance  to 
their  wicked  designs,  and  again  they  seek  his  life.  One 
evening  as  he  takes  his  accustomed  seat  at  his  table  he 
feels  impelled  to  change  his  place.  A  moment  later  a 
musket-ball  passes  through  the  window  over  his  vacant 
chair;  it  is  deflected  from  its  course  and  deeply  im- 
bedded in  the  ceiling.  The  appointed  bound  is  not  yet 
reached,  and  Knox  is  immortal  until  he  reaches  it. 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    403 

Yielding  to  the  solicitations  of  friends,  he  removed  to 
St.  Andrews.  Here  he  continued  his  work.  Numerous 
controversies  engaged  his  attention.  The  machinations 
of  the  papacy  were  resisted.  Messages  of  counsel  and 
encouragement  were  sent  to  the  churches.  On  the 
Lord's  Day  the  great  Reformer  occupied  the  pulpit 
of  the  parish  church,  the  old  pulpit  in  which  he  began 
his  ministry  and  had  uttered  brave  words  for  Christ 
which  had  rung  out  over  all  Scotland. 

James  Melville,  a  student  of  St.  Andrews,  describes 
the  preacher  in  his  last  days :  "  I  attended  him  with  ray 
note-book  and  pen.  In  the  opening  up  of  his  text  he 
was  moderate  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour,  but  when 
he  came  to  the  application  he  made  me  so  thrill  and 
tremble  I  could  not  hold  a  pen  to  write.  He  was  very 
weak.  I  saw  him  every  day  go  slowly  and  wearily, 
with  a  ruff  about  his  neck,  a  staff  in  one  hand,  and  good 
godly  Richard  Ballenden  holding  up  the  other,  from  the 
abbey  to  the  parish  kirk ;  and  the  said  Richard  Ballen- 
den and  another  servant  lifted  him  up  to  the  pulpit, 
where  he  behoved  to  lean  at  his  first  entrance,  but  ere 
he  had  done  with  his  sermon  he  was  so  active  and  vigor- 
ous that  he  was  likely  to  beat  the  pulpit  in  pieces  and 
fly  out  of  it." 

In  St.  Andrews,  Knox  lived  on  intimate  terms  with 
the  professors  of  St.  Leonard's  College.  One  of  his 
favorite  recreations  was  to  walk  through  the  college 
grounds,  looking  w^ith  a  paternal  interest  upon  the 
students,  frequently  gathering  a  little  group  of  them 
around  him,  imparting  to  them  wise  and  affectionate 
counsels  and  then  giving  them  his  blessing.  The  stu- 
dents were  much  affected  by  these  interviews  with  tho 


404  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

venerable  man,  and  carried  the  memory  of  them  through 

all  their  after  years. 

The  weary  soldier,  laboring  as  strength  would  permit, 
in  this  classic  town,  often  longed  to  go  away  and  be  at 
rest.  Thus  he  wrote  in  the  preface  to  one  of  his  works  : 
^^  I  heartily  salute  and  take  my  good-night  of  all  the 
faithful  of  both  realms,  earnestly  desiring  the  assistance 
of  their  prayers,  that  without  any  notable  slander  to  the 
evangel  of  Jesus  Christ  I  may  end  my  battle,  for,  as  the 
world  is  weary  of  me,  so  am  I  of  it."  But  again  he  is 
summoned  to  Edinburgh  :  his  friends  desire  to  hear  his 
voice  once  more  before  he  dies.  He  goes  on  the  con- 
dition that  he  should  not  be  required  to  keep  silence 
respecting  the  conduct  of  those  who  kept  the  castle, 
"  whose  treasonable  and  tyrannical  deeds  he  would  cry 
out  against  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  speak." 

In  the  latter  part  of  that  summer  there  came  to  Ed- 
inburgh news  of  the  great  massacre  of  Protestants  in 
Paris.  Charles  IX.  had  ordered  the  murder  of  the  pious 
Coligni,  admiral  of  France,  and  this  was  followed  by 
the  indiscriminate  destruction  of  the  friends  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, not  only  in  Paris,  but  in  all  parts  of  the 
kingdom.  Men  and  women,  old  and  young,  and  little 
children  were  put  to  death.  Seventy  thousand  were 
butchered  by  the  myrmidons  of  Rome  in  the  short  space 
of  one  week.  By  direction  of  the  pope  a  season  of 
thanksgiving  was  observed,  and  the  faithful  lifted  their 
bloodstained  hands  to  heaven  in  services  which  were  an 

^    abomination  to  God. 

The  Reformed  Church  on  the  Continent  was  bowed 
down  under  this  great  affliction.  Scotland  was  over- 
whelmed with  sorrow.    John  Knox  was  sorely  distressed, 


< 


JOHN  KNOX:   LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.     405 

but  his  faith  in  Gud  and  in  the  success  of  the  Refor- 
mation did  not  fliil  liim.  He  asked  that  he  niiglit  be 
carried  to  the  pulpit  of  old  St.  Giles's  church,  and  there 
he  forgot  his  physical  pains  in  the  expression  of  his 
holy  wrath.  The  wavering  grew  firm.  The  discour- 
aged became  hopeful.  The  voice  of  the  people  was  as 
one  man  :  ^^  Come  what  may,  we  will  hold  fast  to  the 
holy  evangel.'^  — 

A  little  later  Lawsou  of  St.  Andrews  was  chosen 
Knox's  colleague  and  successor  in  the  pastorate  at  Edin- 
burgh. The  installation  services  were  held  Nov.  9, 1572. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  John  Knox  in  Tolbooth 
church,  and  the  services  were  concluded  in  the  larger 
auditorium  of  St.  Giles's.  His  charges  to  the  pastor 
and  people  were  marked  by  great  pathos.  The  message 
seemed  to  come  from  one  who  had  already  passed  within 
the  veil.  It  Avas  a  peaceful  yet  sad  occasion.  With  an 
exhausted  voice  Knox  pronounced  the  benediction  on 
his  loved  people  with  a  tenderness  that  was  deejjly 
affecting.  His  life-work  was  done.  Leaning  on  his 
staff  and  supported  by  an  attendant,  he  walked  from 
St.  Giles's  church  down  High  street  to  his  home,  and 
never  came  out  of  it  until  he  was  borne  to  his  grave. 
On  the  following  Sabbath  his  elders  and  deacons  and 
David  Lindsay,  a  minister  from  Leith,  met  in  Knox's 
room.  The  dying  Reformer  addressed  them  in  impres- 
sive words.  "The  day  approaches,"  he  said,  "and  is 
now  before  the  door,  for  which  I  have  frequently  thirsted, 
when  I  shall  be  released  from  my  great  labors  and  in- 
numerable sorrows,  and  shall  be  with  Christ.  And  now 
God  is  my  witness,  whom  I  have  served  in  the  Spirit  in 
the  gospel  of  his  Son,  that  I  have  taught  nothing  but 


406  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

the  true  and  solid  doctrine  of  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of 
God^  and  have  had  it  for  my  only  object  to  instruct  the 
ignorant,  to  confirm  the  weak,  the  fearful  and  the  dis- 
tressed by  the  promises  of  grace,  and  to  fight  against 
the  proud  and  rebellious  by  the  divine  threatenings.  I 
know  that  many  have  frequently  complained,  and  do 
still  complain,  of  my  too  great  severity ;  but  God  knows 
that  my  mind  was  always  void  of  hatred  to  the  persons 
of  those  against  whom  I  thundered  the  severest  judg- 
ments/' 

Other  words  of  the  same  import  he  spoke,  and  then 
added,  addressing  the  elders  and  then  his  successor ; 
"  My  dear  brethren,  do  you  persevere  in  the  eternal 
truth  of  the  gospel ;  wait  diligently  on  the  flock  over 
which  the  Lord  hath  set  you,  and  which  he  redeemed 
with  the  blood  of  his  only-begotten  Son. — And  thou, 
my  dearest  brother  Lawson,  fight  the  good  fight  and 
do  the  work  of  the  Lord  joyfully  and  resolutely.  The 
Lord  from  on  high  bless  you  and  the  whole  church  of 
Edinburgh,  against  whom,  so  long  as  they  persevere  in 
the  word  of  truth  which  they  have  heard  of  me,  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail.'^  That  little  room  on 
the  Netherbow  was  a  place  of  weeping.  Only  John 
Knox  was  calm.  His  dim  eyes  were  turned  toward 
heaven  whence  his  Lord  should  come,  and  above  the 
dome  of  dear  St.  Giles's,  which  he  saw  from  his  window, 
there  stood  the  gate  of  pearl,  opened  now  that  he  might 
enter. 

The  next  Friday  he  was  much  engaged  in  meditation 
and  prayer,  and  was  heard  to  say,  ^'  Come,  Lord  Jesus. 
Sweet  Jesus,  into  thy  hand  I  commend  my  spirit.  Be 
merciful,    Lord,   to   thy   Church    which   thou  hast   re- 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER   WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.    4()7 

deemed.  Give  peace  to  this  afflicted  commonwealth." 
Many  friends  visited  him,  among  whom  were  Lord 
Lindsay,  the  bishop  of  Caithness,  the  earl  of  Glen- 
cairn  and  Lord  Euthven.  At  his  request  his  wife 
frequently  read  to  him  from  God's  holy  word,  and  he 
dwelt  with  especial  delight  on  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
First  Corinthians  and  the  Lord's  intercessory  prayer 
recorded  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John's  Gospel, 
in  which  he  "first  cast  anchor." 

On  Monday,  the  24th  of  November,  he  failed  rapidly, 
and  yet  at  nine  o'clock  he  rose,  sat  a  while  in  his  chair, 
and  then,  too  weak  to  sit,  reclined  on  his  bed.  A  friend 
asked  him  if  he  had  any  pain.  He  answered  cheer- 
fully, "  It  is  no  painful  pain,  but  such  a  pain  as  shall 
soon,  I  trust,  end  the  battle."  Again  he  said,  "  AYithin 
a  short  time  I  shall,  without  any  great  pain  of  body  or 
anguish  of  mind,  exchange  this  mortal  and  miserable 
life  for  a  blessed  immortality  through  Jesus  Christ." 
About  eleven  o'clock  he  said,  "Now  it  is  come." 
Bannytyne,  his  secretary,  requested  him  to  think  on 
the  comforting  promises  of  the  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
Being  speechless,  he  could  make  no  reply.  Then  Ban- 
nytyne asked  that  he  would  give  some  sign  that  he  died 
in  peace.  The  pale  hand  went  up,  and  almost  the 
next  moment,  without  a  struggle,  the  great  Eeformer 
died,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

Severely  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake,  often  ex- 
iled from  his  loved  Scotland,  frequently  hunted  by  the 
bloodthirsty  papists  as  if  he  were  a  wild  beast  of  the 
forest,  and  compelled  to  maintain  an  almost  perpetual 
warfare  in  behalf  of  the  truth,  leading  on  to  battle  and 
victory,  he  joyfully  went  to  his  everlasting  rest.     The 

27 


408  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

nun  of  mortal  life  had  set,  but  it  shone  on  another 
world.  AVithout  him  Scotland  might  have  remained 
under  the  power  of  Rome  and  have  been  in  our  age 
what  Italy,  Spain,  and  Southern  Ireland  continue  to  be. 
Without  liim  this  land  we  call  ours  would  not  have  en- 
joyed so  long  the  blessings  of  religious  liberty  and  civil 
freedom. 

Well  did  Thomas  Carlyle  say  "  that  for  her  liberty 
Scotland  owed  more  to  John  Knox  than  to  all  other 
men."  His  influence  was  far  more  potent  than  that  of 
Robert  Bruce,  of  David  II.  or  of  Henry  YIII. 

Luther,  Calvin,  Knox^  glorious  trio  !  They  w^ere  the 
Paul,  Peter  and  John  of  the  Reformed  Church.  Their 
names  shall  live  until  the  end  of  time,  and  be  inscribed 
m  letters  of  gold  in  the  archives  of  heaven.  On  Wed- 
nesday, November  26,  1572,  John  Knox  Avas  buried  in 
the  churchyard  of  St.  Giles's.  A  multitude  of  people 
witnessed  his  burial.  Loving  and  grateful  hands  laid 
him  in  his  grave,  and  Regent  Morton,  looking  into  that 
lowly  resting-place,  exclaimed  in  words  immortal  as 
their  subject,  '^  There  lies  he  who  never  feared  the 
face  of  man — who,  though  often  threatened  with  dag 
and  dagger,  hath  ended  his  days  in  peace.'' 

Now  in  the  stone-paved  street,  over  which  day  by 
day  carriages  roll  and  a  jostling  multitude  pass,  behind 
St.  Giles's  church,  may  be  seen  a  stone,  level  with  the 
street,  bearing  two  initials  and  a  date,  supposed  to  in- 
dicate, if  not  the  spot,  the  vicinity,  in  which  the  great 
man  was  interred.  Just  where  he  lies  none  can  cer- 
tainly tell.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Calvin.  Both 
in  this  respect  were  like  their  Lord,  whose  sepulchre 
has   been    hidden   from    a-ll  the  succeeding  ages.     The 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.     4()9 

great  of  this  world  leave  behind  them  moDunieiits  more 
enduring  than  sculptured  marble.  They  live  in  the 
lives  of  each  generation  that  follows.  They  are  not 
dead,  but  rather  are  like  the  stars,  which,  unseen  by 
day,  hold  on  their  course,  riding  in  glory  through  the 
sky. 

We  must  leave  our  readers  to  draw  their  own  lessons 
from  this  remarkable  life  and  to  learn  the  features  of 
the  Reformer's  character  from  the  narrative  we  have 
given.  Only  this  shall  we  say :  He  was  one  of  the 
bravest  men  that  ever  lived,  and  yet,  whilst  he  wore  a 
martial  cloak,  and  could  not  have  done  otherwise,  there 
beat  beneath  it  a  heart  that  was  ever  loving  and  kind, 
that  harbored  no  revenge  and  was  ever  ready  to  for- 
give— a  heart  that  clung  to  Christ  and  his  blessed  gos- 
pel as  the  ivy  to  the  oak,  and  loved  all  who  bore  the 
image  of  our  Lord.  Froude  represents  the  Reformer  as 
a  man  of  kindly  spirit,  who  sketched  the  popular  feeling 
in  a  series  of  scenes  shining  with  laughter  and  humorous 
defiance,  but  so  free  from  bitterness  that  even  anger 
seems  to  melt  into  contemptuous  pity.  "  They  go  far 
wrong,"  says  Carlyle,  "  who  think  that  Knox  was  a 
gloomy,  shrieking  fanatic.  Not  at  all.  He  was  one  of 
the  solidest  of  men.  Practical,  cautious,  hopeful,  patient ; 
a  most  shrewd,  observing,  quickly-discerning  man ;  broth- 
er to  the  high,  brother  also  to  the  low;  sincere  in  his 
sympathy  with  both."  A  man  of  great  intellectual 
power,  of  far-reaching  mental  vision,  of  rare  attainments 
in  the  learning  of  the  schools,  he  was  mighty  in  the 
Scriptures  and  prevalent  in  prayer.  "  I  know  not,' 
said  Smeton,  "  if  ever  so  much  piety  and  genius  were 
lodged  in  so  frail  and  weak  a  body."     When  human 


410  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

helps  failed  him  he  took  hold  on  God  with  a  firmer 
grasp,  and  the  solemn  night  did  often  catch  up  his  in- 
tercession and  bear  it  away  to  the  throne  :  "  Give  me 
Scotland  or  I  die/' 

God  bless  Scotland,  the  Northland,  surrounded  by  the 
Orkneys,  the  Hebrides  and  Barra  Isles  as  Saturn  by  his 
resplendent  rings ;  the  land  of  Knox  and  Murray,  of 
the  Erskines  and  John  Blair,  of  Rutherford  and  Haly- 
burton  and  Anderson,  of  McCheyne  and  Chalmers,  of 
Norman  McLeod  and  William  Arnot,  of  Candlish  and 
Thomas  Guthrie — grand  and  mighty  men,  of  whom 
and  others  like  to  them  the  silver-tongued  Everett  said 
that  they  "  had  acquired  over  the  minds  of  men  a  su- 
premacy more  extensive  and  more  enduring  than  that  of 
Alexander  or  Augustus !'' 

Here  we  close  our  account  of  the  great  Reformation. 
The  path  over  which  we  have  traveled  has  often  been 
red  with  blood.  The  grasp  of  popery  is  strong  as  death. 
Its  walls  are  fire.  Its  weapons  are  carnal.  Its  spirit, 
like  its  principles,  remains  unchanged.  It  would  repeat 
the  Inquisition  if  it  could ;  it  would  establish  papal 
supremacy  on  our  free  soil  if  it  had  the  power.  Even 
now  it  is  the  controlling  element  in  nearly  all  our  large 
cities.  It  strives  for  universal  pre-eminence,  and,  unless 
the  friends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  take  the  alarm, 
will  rule  the  decisions  of  our  courts,  control  our  State 
and  national  legislation  and  fill  the  highest  offices  of 
the  nation. 

And  what  then  ?  It  needs  no  prophetic  inspiration  to 
answer.  God  preserve  us  from  threatening  evil !  By 
every  consideration  of  humanity,  patriotism    and  piety 


JOHN  KNOX:  LATER    WORK  IN  SCOTLAND.     411 

m^  we  be  impelled  to  stand  by  the  principles  of  the 
holy  evangel,  long  withheld  from  the  world  by  the 
corrupt  hierarchy  which  chose  for  its  seat  the  city  of 
Ihe  Caesars ;  to  restore  which  God  raised  up  such  men 
as  Luther,  Calvin  and  Knox ;  to  maintain  which  Patrick 
Hamilton,  George  Wishart,  Thomas  Cranmer,  Hugh 
Latimer,  Nicholas  Ridley  and  an  army  of  holy  martyrs 
shed  their  blood.  God  grant  that  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  whose  emblems  are  righteousness  and  jieace,  may 
everywhere  prevail !  That  day  will  surely  come,  though 
whether,  on  account  of  our  supineness  and  sins,  there 
shall  lie  between  a  reign  such  as  Bloody  Mary's  and 
sucli  scenes  as  were  enacted  at  St.  Andrews,  at  Smith- 
field  and  on  the  Oxford  common,  only  God,  who  sees 
the  end  and  traces  all  the  steps  thereto,  can  certainly 
tell.  _ 


ROMANISM;   ITS  PRESENT  STATUS. 


"  Then  shall  that  Wicked  be  revealed,  whom  the  Lord  shall 
consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  shall  destroy  with 
the  bright?iess  of  his  coming :  even  him,  ivhose  coming  is  after 
the  working  of  Satan  with  all  power  and  signs  and  lying 
wonders,  and  with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in 
them  that  perish ;  because  they  jxceived  not  the  love  of  the 
truth,  that  they  might  be  saved.  And  for  this  cause  God  shall 
se?id  the7n  strong  delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie.'' 

2  Thess.  2  :8-ii. 

" /;^  the  second  petitiofi,  ivhich  is.  Thy  kingdom  cojue,  ive 
pray,  that  Satan's  kingdom  may  be  destroyed,  and  that  the 
ki?igdom  of  grace  may  be  advanced,  ourselves  and  others 
brought  into  it,  and  kept  in  it,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  glory 
may  be  hastened." 

Shorter  Catechism,  Ans.  to  QuevStion  102. 

"  Christ.  .  .  .  shall  come  again  at  the  last  day  in  great 
power,  and  in  the  full  manifestation  of  his  own  glory,  and 
of  the  Father's,  with  all  his  holy  angels,  with  a  sho7it,  with 
the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trumpet  of  God,  to 
judge  the  world  in  righteous7iess." ' 

Larger  Catechism,  Ans.  to  Question  56. 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS. 


FN  the  preceding  sketches  we  have  been  occupied  with 
-■-  the  past.  We  have  contemplated  the  moral  dark- 
ness which  during  the  Middle  Ages  gathered  over 
Europe — the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  a  memory  only, 
piety  in  its  decadence,  the  Church  divested  of  nearly 
every  trace  of  her  early  beauty;  ignorance,  supersti- 
tion, wickedness  and  every  form  of  corruption  in  high 
places  and  in  low  casting  heavy  shadows  over  the  land 
and  on  all  the  prospects  of  the  future.  Then  we  saw  the 
light  arise  amid  the  darkness,  a  lone  star  on  the  liorizon 
that  betokened  an  approaching  morning  and  beyond 
that  a  better  day.  We  have  followed  on  through  ages 
of  fear,  conflict  and  toil,  during  which  hope  struggled 
with  despair,  the  glare  of  martyr-fires  on  the  faces  of 
the  timid  and  strong,  the  Church  arising  at  last  out  of 
the  ashes  of  persecution  a  goodly  temple,  its  foundations 
deeply  laid,  its  peaceful  dome  reflecting  heaven  and  its 
spacious  walls  enclosing  a  multitude  of  the  redeemed. 
Souls  born  from  above  communed  with  Christ  and  one 
another,  rejoiced  in  the  truth  released  from  the  cerements 
of  death,  and,  endued  with  power  from  on  high,  girded 
themselves  for  the  world's  conquest  to  their  glorious 
King. 

Now  we  look  about  us  in  this  more  favored  age  that 


415 


416  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS, 

we  may  learu  the  present  condition  of  Romanisn  in  the 
lands  where  it  still  holds  a  place.  We  shall  also  notice 
its  claim  to  universal  recognition  in  these  latter  times  as 
based  upon  its  history,  which  reaches  back,  as  we  are 
told,  to  apostolic  times,  and  was  born  by  the  authorita- 
tive word  of  Him  who  liveth  and  abideth  for  ever. 

The  Church  of  Rome  is  less  corrupt  than  once  it  was. 
It  is  not  the  persecuting  power  it  was  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  does  not  maintain  its  ancient  control  over  the 
governments  of  the  world,  nor  command  the  reverence 
it  inspired  when  the  Gregories  and  Clements  filled  the 
pontifical  throne  and  such  princes  as  Charles  V.  and 
Philip  II.  bowed  on  the  steps  of  a  doubly-crowned  au- 
tocracy. 

There  is  much  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  to- 
day to  admire.  There  are  elements  of  good  which  it 
were  folly  to  deny;  agencies  of  blessing  which  have 
alleviated  human  woe;  examples  of  piety  which  can- 
not be  questioned ;  and  possibilities  of  usefulness  that 
under  divine  inspiration  and  control  would  lift  the 
world  into  a  higher  orbit. 

We  are  not  forgetful  of  its  great  charities,  the  min- 
istries of  its  Sisters  of  Mercy ;  its  asylums  for  the  suf- 
fering on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic;  its  monasteries, 
like  those  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard,  the  Simplon  Pass, 
Bethlehem  and  Nazareth,  in  which  the  poor  are  tem- 
porarily sheltered  and  fed  and  where  the  weary  traveler 
rests.  Nor  do  we  forget  that  its  churches  are  open  to 
the  humblest  classes,  all  social  distinctions  ignored  be- 
fore the  altars  of  St.  Peter's  basilica  and  in  the  rude 
Alpine  chapel.     By  means  of  its  charitable  institutions 


EOMANTSM:   ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  417 

and  its  recognition  of  the  poor  it  has  greatly  extended 
its  power  throughout  the  world  and  furnished  an  exam- 
ple worthy  of  universal  emulation. 

We  are  also  constrained  to  accord  a  qualified  admira- 
tion to  Rome's  steadfastness  of  purpose,  departing  not 
from  the  early  aspiration  to  "  independent  sovereignty, 
control  over  the  princes  of  the  earth  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  Church."  The  Romanism  of  to-day,  though  shorn 
of  its  temporal  power,  seeks  its  recovery,  and  swerves 
not  from  the  principles  which  by  logical  sequence  de- 
mand its  restoration.  It  secludes  the  Holy  Father  in 
the  Vatican,  a  reputed  prisoner  in  the  most  brilliant 
palace  in  all  the  earth,  and  calmly  waits  the  fulfillment 
of  its  oft-repeated  auguries.  The  waves  of  a  holy  in- 
dignation beat  against  the  throne  of  its  usurped  domin- 
ion, the  light  of  a  pure  evangelism  glares  on  all  the  sur- 
rounding summits,  and  Protestantism  pushes  its  con- 
quests in  lands  that  had  sworn  allegiance  to  Rome ;  but 
the  papacy  sits  serenely  on  the  Vatican  mount,  addresses 
the  faithful  of  all  lands  from  thence,  urges  its  way  along 
the  paths  of  the  world's  progress,  and  from  every  moun- 
tain-height flings  out  the  banner  of  its  unwavering  hope. 

It  is  the  marvel  of  the  ages.  Its  inconsistency 
amounts  to  genius.  ''  It  is  both  lofty  and  degraded ; 
simple,  yet  worldly-wise;  humble,  yet  scornful  and 
proud  ;  washing  beggars'  feet,  yet  imposing  commands 
on  the  potentates  of  earth ;  benignant,  yet  severe  on  all 
who  rebel;  here  clothed  in  rags,  and  there  reveling  in 
palaces ;  supported  by  charities,  yet  feasting  the  princes 
of  the  earth ;  assuming  the  title  of  servant  of  the  serv- 
ants of  God,  yet  arrogating  to  itself  the  highest  seat 
among  worldly  dignitaries.      Was   there   ever   such   a 


418  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

contradiction  ? — glory  iu  debasement,  and  debasement 
in  glory,  type  of  the  misery  and  greatness  of  man  ? 
Was  there  ever  such  a  mystery,  so  occult  are  its  arts, 
so  subtile  its  policy,  so  plausible  its  pretensions,  so  cer- 
tain its  shafts  ?"  * 

Romanism  has  many  apologists.  A  mistaken  charity 
magnifies  its  virtues,  ignores  its  vices  and  condones  its 
crimes.  Thus  error  is  advanced,  the  nnwary  are  mis- 
led and  the  devotees  of  a  corrupt  religion  are  confirmed 
in  their  superstitions.  This  charity  is  not  the  expres- 
sion of  that  divine  love  which  would  save  souls  even 
by  a  holy  violence. 

Romanism  boasts  of  its  unity  and  catholicity.  Its 
unity  is  specious  only,  and  its  catholicity  unreal.  It 
claims  that  before  his  ascension  our  Lord  indicated  the 
outward  form  of  the  Church  and  directed  its  organiza- 
tion with  Peter  as  its  head.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost 
this  external  orgauism  was  completed.  From  that  time 
onward  Peter  and  his  successors  were  to  be  recognized 
as  the  representatives  of  Christ,  the  real  but  absent 
Head  of  the  visible  Church.  The  spiritual  supremacy 
of  Christendom  is  thus,  by  divine  appointment,  vested 
in  the  pope.  The  Church  universal  is  based  on  the 
principle  of  obedience  to  him,  and  a  system  of  doc- 
trine and  an  order  of  worship  are  maintained  in  har- 
mony with  this  papal  despotism  and  are  its  effective 
support. 

Roman    Catholicism    holds   that    the    unity   of    the 

Church  in  respect  to  its  external  organization  and  its 

doctrinal  system  has  continued  without  interruption  or 

variation  to  the  present.    Protestantism  is  pronounced  a 

*  Lord's  Lecture  on  Hildebrand. 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS  419 

heresy,  recent  as  the  Reformatiou,  and  broken  into 
variant  divisions,  lacking  either  outward  or  sj)iiitual 
coherence,  and  as  changeful  as  diverse.  These  assump- 
tions of  the  unity  of  the  papacy  are  groundless,  and  the 
alleged  disagreements  in  Protestantism  do  not  exist.  ^ 

First:  The  claim  of  Eomanism  to  universal  recoirni- 
tion,  as  based  on  the  supremacy  of  the  pope  and  the 
unbroken  succession  of  the  priesthood,  cannot  be  main- 
tained. History  does  not  support  it.  Peter  was  an 
apostle.  The  apostolic  office  was  personal,  and  there- 
fore could  not  be  communicated  to  another.  It  was 
necessary  to  the  apostleship  that  he  who  held  the  office 
should  be  able  to  bear  personal  testimony  to  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ — that  he  should  be  possessed  of  an  in- 
fallible inspiration,  be  endow^ed  with  the  power  of  work- 
ing miracles  and  be  able  to  impart  spiritual  gifts.  These 
qualifications  ceased  with  the  Twelve.  The  office  itself 
w^as  temporary,  and  therefore  there  could  be  no  succes- 
sion. Peter  and  the  other  apostles  ordained  suitable 
men  to  the  ministry,  but  did  this  not  as  apostles,  but  as 
co-ordinate  presbyters.  The  idea  of  the  supremacy  of 
Peter  never  occurred  to  the  apostles,  and  received  no 
recognition  from  the  early  Church. 

A  celebrated  Oxford  professor,  Henry  Hod  well,  ex- 
pressed his  opinion  on  the  subject  in  somewhat  drastic 
terms.  He  insisted  that  "  the  office  of  the  apostles  per- 
ished with  the  apostles;  in  which  office  there  never  was 
any  succession  to  any  of  them,  except  to  Judas  the 
Traitor." 

Further:  Tf  the  supremacy  of  Peter  were  true,  yet 
the  pontifical  succession  cannot  be  established.  Peter 
stands  alone  in  the  supremacy  claimed  for  him  by  the 


420  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

Holy  See.  Ignatius  and  Poljcarp  speak  of  no  succes- 
sor. Down  to  the  time  of  Irenseus,  near  the  close  of 
the  second  century,  there  is  not  the  slightest  allusion  by 
any  historian  of  the  apostolic  Church  to  such  a  dynastic 
order.  This  silence  is  inexplicable  on  the  basis  of  this 
Romish  tradition.  The  reason  is  obvious:  Peter  was 
not  a  prelatic  bishop,  and  not  being  a  prelatic  bishop  he 
could  have  no  prelatic  successor.  Roman  historians  at- 
tempt to  fill  the  hiatus,  but  do  not  agree  among  them- 
selves. Fabrications  are  usually  inconsistent.  Cer- 
tainty is  impossible  where  facts  do  not  exist. 

But  if  the  line,  as  respects  the  chronological  order, 
were  one  and  unbroken,  yet  there  remain  other  facts 
that  militate  against  the  Romish  theory.  If  we  were 
constrained  to  accept  the  assumption  that  Peter  as 
supreme  bishop  ordained  a  successor,  yet  the  succession 
was  evidently  broken  by  the  heresy  of  certain  pontiffs, 
by  fraudulent  elections  and  by  schisms  which  originated 
different  pontifical  lines,  as  when  Rome  was  opposed  by 
Avignon  and  Urban  by  Clement.  There  is  no  bridge 
to  carry  the  Holy  See  across  the  centuries.  Arianism 
setting  aside  fundamental  truth,  simony  purchasing  the 
papal  tiara,  mobocracy  determining  the  succession  and 
the  dissoluteness  of  popes  have  for  ever  dismissed,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  larger  part  of  Christendom,  the 
theory  of  an  apostolic  successsion.  Many  are  familiar 
with  the  statements  of  reliable  history  concerning  the 
immorality  of  some  of  the  popes.  Gregory  VII.  was 
guilty  of  adultery,  perjury  and  murder;  Honorius  was 
accused  of  grave  offences  by  the  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople ;  Eugenius  was  proved  by  the  Council  of  Basle  to 
be  a  simonist,  a  peijurer  and  a  heretic;  Alexander  YI. 


ROMAN  ISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  421 

was  admitted  to  be  "  one  of  the  greatest  aud  most  liorri- 
ble  monsters  in  nature ;''  and  Julius  II.  was  a  sodomite. 
And  there  were  others  like  to  them.  We  do  not  iiffirm 
that  every  pope  was  notoriously  wicked,  but  we  do  in- 
sist that  the  immorality  of  men  who  claimed  to  be  vicars 
of  Christ,  this  immorality  extending  through  successive 
papal  dynasties,  is  quite  sufficient  to  interrupt  the  flow 
of  apostolic  authority,  and  bring  to  a  perpetual  end  the 
Church  which  conditioned  its  life  on  the  continuity  of  a 
holy  apostolic  succession.  — 

The  entire  priesthood  of  the  Roman  Church  is  un- 
scriptural  and  its  perpetuity  is  an  impossibility.  The 
Levitical  priesthood  was  typical  and  occupied  with  sym- 
bolical sacrifices.  It  terminated  with  the  propitiatory 
death  of  Christ.  Our  High  Priest  "  put  away  sin  by 
the  sacrifice  of  himself."  He  is  gone  into  heaven  "  to 
appear  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us."  There  is  no 
longer  any  necessity  for  a  priesthood,  for  altars  and 
sacrifices.  The  whole  sacerdotal  system  of  Rome  is 
anti-scriptural,  dishonoring  to  Christ  and  a  cruel  dece})- 
tion.  The  ministry  is  commissioned  to  preach  the  evan- 
gel, not  to  wear  priestly  robes  and  offer  sacrifices  and 
bind  the  faith  of  men  to  a  dead  Judaism  out  of  which 
living  Christianity  was  born.  Then  it  follows,  since  the 
ancient  priesthood  has  ceased,  that  succession  in  the 
priesthood  is  an  impossibility.  The  claim  of  Rome  is 
an  offence  to  ordinary  intelligence.  It  is  a  profane  sub- 
stitution of  a  human  invention  for  the  divine  ordina- 
tion, and  of  hierarchical  supremacy  for  the  Headsliip  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  true  successors  of  the  apostles  are  those  who  pos- 
sess the  spirit  of  the  apostles  and  do  their  works.     Paul 


422  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

wrote  to  Timothy,  ^'  The  things  which  thou  hast  heard 
of  me  among  many  witnesses,  the  same  commit  thou  to 
faithful  men  who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others."  The 
gospel  is  the  message.  The  faithful  preacher  of  the 
word,  called  and  qualified  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  whether 
consecrated  to  his  work  by  the  hands  of  the  Presbytery  or 
of  the  bishop,  is  in  the  line  of  the  apostolic  succession. 
Every  minister  who  maintains  a  faithful  oversight  of 
the  flock  of  Christ  is  a  bishop.  He  is  designated  by 
different  names  to  indicate  his  several  relations  to  the 
spiritual  needs  of  the  people,  appointed  for  ^^the  per- 
fecting of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for 
the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ."  And  the  true 
visible  Church,  according  to  the  Westminster  Confes- 
sion, consists  of  all  those  throughout  the  world  that 
profess  the  true  religion,  together  with  their  children." 
In  agreement  with  this  definition  is  the  statement  of  the 
Church  of  England  that  ''  the  visible  Church  of  Christ 
is  a  congregation  of  faithful  men,  in  which  the  pure 
word  of  God  is  preached  and  the  sacraments  are  duly 
administered  according  to  Christ's  ordinance,  in  all 
these  things  that  are  requisite  to  the  same."  Accept- 
ing these  definitions  as  being  in  harmony  with  the 
word  of  God,  it  displaces  from  the  line  of  apostolic 
succession  all  unfaithful  ministers,  and  sets  aside  the 
assumption  of  Romanists  that  they  alone  constitute  the 
true  Church  of  Christ. 

If  we  were  constrained  to  accept  the  papal  dogma  of 
apostolic  succession,  we  would  seek  for  it  entirely  out- 
side the  Romish  communion.  If  it  exists  at  all,  it  is  to 
l)e  found  among  the  godly  people  who  were  never  iden- 
tified with  Rome  ;  who  abode  in  the  mountain-fastnesses 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  423 

of  Southern  and  Central  Europe;  who  maintained  the 
simple  gospel,  a  scriptural  polity  and  spiritual  worsliip; 
who  were  the  conservators  of  the  truth  during  the  Dark 
Ages,  at  whose  altar-fires  Reformers  kindled  the  torclies 
which  dispelled  the  moral  darkness  and  ushered  in  the 
glorious  day  whose  sun  shall  never  set.  All  honor  to 
pious  Waldenses  among  the  Cottian  Alps,  who  insisted 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation — and  not  without 
reason — that  they  were  the  true  descendants  of  those 
who  from  father  to  son  have  preserved  entire  the  apos- 
tolic faith  in  the  valleys  which  they  then  occupied,  and 
who  appealed  to  earthly  thrones  for  permission,  as  they 
expressed  it,  "to  enjoy  that  free  exercise  of  their  relig- 
ion which  they  had  enjoyed  from  time  out  of  mind, 
and  before  the  dukes  of  Savoy  became  princes  of  Pied- 
mont.'' Rorenco,  grand  prior  of  St.  Roch  in  Turin, 
who  had  examined  ancient  annals  and  traced  subsequent 
history,  published  a  volume  in  1632  in  which  he  gave  it 
as  his  opinion,  based  on  adequate  testimony,  that  for  at 
least  six  or  seven  centuries,  and  hence  before  the  time  of 
Hildebrand,  the  Waldenses  had  taught  the  same  religion 
which  they  held  in  the  time  of  Luther  and  Calvin.  We 
have  also  the  statement  of  Belvidere,  the  inquisitor,  that 
these  ^'  heretics  have  been  found  in  all  periods  of  history 
in  the  valley  of  Angrona."  It  is  worthy  of  remark 
that  the  church  polity  of  the  Waldenses  approximated 
very  closely  to  that  of  modern  Presbyterianism,  their 
church  courts  corresponding  to  the  Presbyterian  church 
Session,  Presbytery  and  Synod,  the  office  of  the  Moderator 
of  the  latter  being  in  no  sense  episcopal.  The  parity  of 
the  clergy  remained  intact  throughout  their  entire  his- 
tory, and  ordination  to  the  ministry  was  accomplished 

28 


424  R031ANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

by  th(3  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  Moderator  and  of 
his  co-presbyters.  Here  is  a  unity  in  beliefs,  order  and 
polity  which  is  without  a  parallel  in  modern  history,  in 
marked  contrast  to  that  which  is  claimed  by  tlie  Roman 
Church,  her  rock  quicksand  and  her  traditions  the  whis- 
perings of  the  empty  wind.  A  continuity  of  organiza- 
tion originated  several  centuries  after  Christ,  and  the 
unification  of  Romanists  in  all  parts  of  the  world  in 
one  visible,  external  body,  together  with  the  subjection 
of  the  individual  conscience  to  the  judgment  and  will 
of  the  pope,  are  admitted.  But  this  is  not  that  unity 
of  the  Spirit,  that  uniformity  in  spiritual  apprehension 
of  truth  and  that  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  true  and 
only  Head  of  the  Church,  which  justify  the  claim  of 
the  papal  Church.  John  Milton  declared  the  assump- 
tion groudless,  and  insisted  that  the  name  ''Roman 
Catholic "  was  as  inappropriate  and  illogical  as  ''  Uni- 
versal Particular.^^  The  eleventh  article  of  the  creed 
of  Pius  IV.  should  be  for  ever  obsolete ;  "  I  acknowl- 
edge the  Holy  Catholic  and  apostolic  Roman  Church  to 
be  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all  churches.'^  Equally 
absurd  is  any  modified  prelacy  which  unchurches  tlie 
great  company  of  believers  in  all  the  ages  since  Christ 
who  had  maintained  the  apostolic  faith,  lived  godly  and 
kept  tlie  ordinances  of  religion  as  administered  by  men 
who  had  not  accepted  ordination  from  prelatic  bishops, 
yet  had  been  made  ministers  of  the  evangel  by  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

The  ckiim  of  the  Romish  Church  to  doctrinal  unity 
is  equally  fallacious.  It  is  an  historic  foct  that  within 
the  fold  of  assumed  ecclesiastical  unity  the  Church  has 
been    greatly  divided  as   to   doctrinal    beliefs.     A    few 


ROMANISM:   ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  42o 

instances  may  be  cited.  With  respect  to  trmh^nhsfnnfia- 
tion  there  lias  been  diversity  of  opinion.  By  some  con- 
spicuous ecclesiastics  it  was  classed  among  the  non-essen- 
tials of  the  Romish  system.  Gregory  the  Great  did  not 
insist  upon  it.  Pius  IV.  was  quite  willing  to  surrtndcr 
it  if  by  so  doing  he  could  secure  the  recognition  of  his  su- 
premacy on  the  British  Isles.  Those  who  held  to  the  cor- 
poreal presence  in  the  Lord's  Supper  supported  their  view 
by  appeals  to  Ignatius  and  Justin  Martyr ;  others  were 
stumbled  by  the  spiritual  view  of  Tertullian  and  Au- 
gustine. The  Fathers  were  not  in  accord.  Ignatius's 
writings  had  been  interlarded  with  papal  fal)ricati()ns 
and  their  testimony  was  uncertain.  Infallible  popes 
had  not  determined  the  impoi'tant  question.  It  was  re- 
served for  the  Council  of  Trent  in  the  sixteenth  century 
to  finally  stop  all  discussion  by  reaffirming  the  dogma 
of  transubstantiation  and  anathematizing  all  who  denied 
it.  From  that  time  onward  there  has  been  little  resist- 
ance to  a  doctrine  which  practically  substitutes  a  shock- 
ing cannibalism   for  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross. 

The  doctrine  of  'purgatory  has  long  had  a  place  in  the 
Romish  creed,  yet  some  of  Rome's  leading  theologians 
have  pronounced  "  purgatorial  punishment  a  matter  of 
human  opinion,  which  can  be  evinced  neither  from 
Scripture,  Fathers,  nor  councils.''  Such  names  may 
be  mentioned  as  Barnes,  Courager,  Alphonsus,  Fisher 
and  Polydorus.  Some  of  the  strongest  advocates  of  an 
intermediate  state  of  purification  by  fire  have  rested 
their  argument  on  a  passage  in  the  Apocrypha,  whilst 
others  have  thought  to  find  its  su])port  in  obscure  Wxi^ 
in  the  canonical  Scriptures ;  and  even  these  differ  in  their 
interpretations  until  at   last  any  scriptural   ground   for 


426  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

their  belief  is  reduced  to  such  a  minimum  that  a  papal 
bull  was  necessary  to  establish  an  article  of  faith  which 
should  bind  the  consciences  of  men  who  have  dismissed 
the  right  of  private  judgment. 

There  has  been  a  like  difference  of  opinion  respecting 
the  office  of  extreme  unction.  Some  hold  that  the  appli- 
cation of  oil  in  the  article  of  death,  attended  by  the 
prayers  of  the  administrator,  secured  only  the  remission 
of  venial  sins.  Others  have  maintained  as  earnestly 
that  the  sacrament  avails  in  case  of  mortal  transgres- 
sions. Roman  theologians  have  diflPered  as  to  the 
authority  on  which  the  so-called  sacrament  rests. 
Some  say  it  was  instituted  by  our  Lord,  others  refer 
it  to  apostolic  custom,  and  another  class  accept  it  only 
as  a  vague  intimation  of  the  early  Fathers,  whilst  still 
another  class  insist  that  the  first  four  centuries  fail  to 
furnish  any  proof  of  this  institution.  It  remained  for 
the  Council  of  Trent  to  exalt  a  disputed  tradition  to 
the  dignity  of  an  article  of  faith,  adding  the  sanction 
of  anathemas  that  enforced  acquiescence. 

In  respect  to  image-ioorship  there  existed  variant  be- 
liefs. Whether  images  were  to  be  simply  an  aid  to 
worship,  suggestions  of  spiritual  truth,  a  stairway  by 
which  souls  went  up  to  the  holy  hill,  or  whether  they 
were  themselves  to  be  the  object  of  worship,  was  not 
settled  until  the  second  Council  of  Nice  made  a  deliver- 
ance which  favored  that  gross  idolatry  which  late  coun- 
cils modified,  and  then  restored. 

The  celibacy  of  the  clergy  has  been  urged  as  a  divine 
institution,  but  many  accept  it  on  human  authority 
alone  and  consequently  subject  to  modification  or  repeal. 
There  is  a  uniformity  in  theory  which  has  prevailed  in 


BOMANISM:   ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  127 

the  later  centuries,  aud  the  celibacy  of  the  pricstliood  is 
urged  as  a  meaus  of  securing  greater  h)yalty  to  ilm 
Church  and  devotion  to  her  sovereign  Head. 

Thus  far  we  have  had  a  view  of  the  absence  of  unity 
of  belief  respecting  what  may  be  termed  the  externals 
of  religion.  This  want  of  uniformity  has  also  existed 
in  connection  with  fundamental  truth.  Arianism  ha^ 
found  a  home  in  the  Roman  Church.  The  doctrine  of 
justification  has  been  variously  interpreted.  Sanctifica- 
tion  has  assumed  protean  shapes.  The  teachings  of  the 
Church  respecting  original  sin,  regeneration,  the  nature 
and  office  of  faith  and  other  doctrines  have  become  as 
unreliable  as  the  Epistles  of  St.  Ignatius  by  reason  of 
the  radical  changes  which  have  occurred. 

The  unity  of  the  Roman  Church,  then,  is  disproved. 
Real  unity  as  respects  the  great,  fundamental  doctrines 
of  revelation,  with  liberty  as  to  things  which  are  non- 
essential, is  found  in  the  Protestant  Church  only.  From 
the  Reformation  until  now  no  branch  of  the  Reformed 
Church  has  called  in  question  a  single  doctrine  which 
is  related  to  the  salvation  of  men.  The  inspiration 
and  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Godhead  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  necessity  and  sufficiency  of  his  death  as  an 
atonement  for  sin,  justification  by  his  righteousness 
appropriated  by  faith,  the  personality  and  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  necessity  of  personal  holiness,  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  a  general  judgment  and  future 
retribution, — are  facts  which  are  accepted  and  believed 
by  Reformed  Christians  of  every  name.  Underneath 
the  superficial  lines  which  divide  the  communion  of  tlie 
Protestant  Church— many  of  which  are  national  only, 
some  of  which  have  respect  simply  to  forms  of  govern 


428  BOMANISM  A]>D   THE  REFORMERS. 

meut  or  modes  of  worship — lies  the  great  substratum 
of  saving  truth,  one  and  indivisible,  on  which  all  Prot- 
estants stand,  declaring  their  loyalty  to  Christ  and  to 
the  holy  faith  oiice  delivered  to  the  saints.  In  respect 
to  unity  in  the  essentials  of  religion  Protestantism  clear- 
ly holds  the  vantage-ground. 

Even  when  error  in  the  Komish  Church  crystalized 
in  formulas  supported  by  the  most  solemn  sanctions, 
there  existed  either  an  external  harmony  only  or  the 
unity  of  death.  Historically  considered,  apostolic  suc- 
cession, doctrinal  unity  and  papal  infallibility  are 
myths,  an  affront  to  truth  and  an  offence  to  human 
understanding. 

"^  Roman  Catholicism  is  a  rebaptized  paganism.  In  its 
best  features  it  is  a  revival  of  philosophies  which  pre- 
vailed before  Christ  outside  the  Hebrew  Church,  and  a 
perversion  of  the  Scriptures  which,  to  a  large  extent, 
practically  denies  what  God  affirms,  and  by  a  way 
which  seems  right  to  blinded  souls  conducts  them  to 
perdition. 

' — '  An  intelligent  author,  conversant  with  the  religions 
of  China  and  India,  has  called  attention  to  the  simi- 
larity between  Romanism  and  Buddhism  :  ^'  Both  have 
a  supreme  and  infallible  head ;  the  celibacy  of  the  priest- 
hood ;  monasteries  and  nunneries  ;  prayers  in  an  unknown 
tongue;  prayers  to  saints  and  intercessors;  also  prayers 
for  the  dead ;  repetition  of  prayers  with  the  use  of  the 
rosary ;  works  of  merit  and  supererogation ;  self-im- 
posed austerities  and  bodily  inflictions ;  a  formal  daily 
service,  consisting  of  chants,  burning  of  candles,  sprink- 
ling of  holy  water,  bowings,  prostrations,  marchings 
and  counter-marchings.     Both  have  also  fast-days  and 


I 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  429 

feast-days,  religious  processions,  images  and  pictures  of 
fabulous  legends,  and  revere  and  worship  relics,  real 
and  pretended."  * 

The  corruption  of  the  priesthood  and  the  moral 
degradation  of  the  people  in  papal  countries  are  well 
known.  Where  the  papacy  is  least  restrained  by  Prot- 
estantism its  unhappy  influence  is  most  felt.  In  Spain, 
Mexico  and  Brazil  the  Roman  priests  are  the  most  prof- 
ligate of  men.  Many  of  them  are  gamblers,  drunkards, 
adulterers  and  sodomites.  They  are  permitted  to  cele- 
brate the  mass,  receive  confession  and  perform  other 
functions  of  their  office  on  the  assumption  that  per- 
sonal immorality  does  not  vitiate  the  ordinances  they 
administer.  In  Italy,  since  the  unification  of  the  king- 
dom under  Victor  Emmanuel,  the  priests  are  liable  to 
the  punishment  inflicted  on  common  criminals,  and 
there  is  a  measure  of  outward  decency  unknown  under 
the  old  regime.  And  yet  the  people  who  worship  at 
the  altars  of  the  great  churches  of  Rome,  Naples,  Flor- 
ence, Milan  and  Venice,  and  in  the  rude  chapels  on  the 
Campagna  and  along  the  slopes  of  the  Apennines  and 
the  Alps,  have  little  or  no  confidence  in  the  moral  integ- 
rity of  those  who  are  believed  to  bear  the  vessels  of  the 
Lord.  This  corruption  extends  to  nuns,  monks  and  all 
the  orders  of  the  Romish  hierarchy.  The  impurity  of 
Cardinal  Antonelli  was  not  questioned  in  Rome,  and  yet 
he  stood  hard  by  the  papal  throne,  and  uttered  many 
pious  platitudes  concerning  the  "Holy  Gospel"  and 
"my  lord  the  pope.''  In  the  college  of  cardinals  he 
was  not  an  exception,  nor  is  the  succession  broken. 

In  Roman  Catholic  countries  we  find  a  sad  illustra- 
*  D*-.  Nevius  in  his  China  ami  the  Chinese. 


430  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

tiou  of  the  divinely-enunciated  principle,  "A  corrupt 
tree  brings  forth  corrupt  fruit/'  Every  form  of  vice 
exists  and  the  worst  crimes  prevail.  There  is  little 
morality  found  in  Rome,  the  seat  of  the  Holy  See. 
What  Machiavelli,  a  Romanist,  said  in  his  day,  might 
be  repeated  now  :  ^^  We  Italians  are  indebted  princi- 
pally to  the  Church  and  the  priests  for  having  become 
impure  and  immoral."  Murders  are  frequent  in  Rome, 
and  the  yellow  Tiber  with  its  lines  of  blood  tells  the 
story.  Even  Pius  IX.  admitted  "  the  great  increase  of 
those  who  openly  dare  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  God 
and  are  known  to  live  in  concubinage — nay,  even  in 
incest."  Vice  and  crime  are  not  excluded  from  any 
land,  but  are  far  more  jirevalent  in  those  dominated  by 
the  Romish  Church.  Reliable  statistics  refer  seventy 
per  cent,  of  the  crimes  in  Protestant  countries  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  population.  Romish  priests  solicit  the 
chaplaincy  of  jails  and  penitentiaries  and  reformatories 
on  the  ground  that  the  majority  of  the  inmates  are 
Roman  Catholics.  It  may  be  claimed  that  the  con- 
fessional restrains  crime.  The  evidence  does  not  appear. 
Its  influence  seems  to  be  directly  the  opposite.  The 
priest  grants  absolution  for  sin,  and  so  encourages  its 
repetition. 

The  superstitions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of 
the  present  are  well  known.  Miracles  are  attributed  to 
departed  saints.  Altars  are  festooned  with  representa- 
tions of  limbs  restored,  of  incurable  diseases  cured  and. 
of  souls  released  from  purgatory  through  the  interpo- 
sition of  these  canonized  worthies.  The  chain  of  St. 
Peter  in  the  church  of  San  Pietro  de  Vinculo  in  Rome 
is  an  object  of  superstitious  worship,  and  physical  con- 


ROMANISM:   ITS  PRESENT  STATUS  431 

tact  with  it  secures  both  physical  aiul  spii'itual  Ix'iicfit.s. 
Like  efficacy  attaches  to  tlie  wood  of  the  true  cross,  to 
the  nails  which  penetrated  the  hands  and  feet  of  our 
Lord  and  the  thorns  which  piei-ced  his  brow.  Tlie 
number  of  these  sacred  relics  is  sufficient  to  supply  tin* 
world.  They  may  be  found  in  nearly  all  Ainorican 
cathedrals,  and  obscure  chapels  are  honored  witli  tlie 
bones  of  saints  long  since  departed.  In  Lower  Canada 
reputed  miracles  are  wrought  through  the  agency  of 
these  remains,  and  the  most  aggravated  diseases  have 
been  healed  in  chuTches  along  the  St.  Lawrence  dedi- 
cated to  some  pious  nun  or  exceptionally  godly  monk 
who  long  ago  passed  through  purgatory  on  the  way 
to  heaven. 

The  opposition  to  the  common-school  system  of  the 
United  States  is  logical,  yet  it  is  inconsistent.  At  one 
time  it  is  objected  that  our  scliools  are  purely  secular, 
and  Rome  would  cultivate  the  moral  nature  of  the 
young.  Again  complaint  is  made  whenever  the  Bil)]e 
is  used,  since  the  reading  of  it  sunders  the  ties  which 
bind  Roman  Catholic  children  to  their  mother-Church. 
A  remarkable  admission  !  Romanism  seeks  an  appro- 
priation of  the  public-school  funds  for  the  purposes  of 
education  in  the  interests  of  the  Church,  and  resorts  to 
every  available  artifice  to  attract  the  children  of  Prot- 
estant families  to  her  schools;  and  through  this  agency 
has  succeeded  in  perverting  many  to  her  comnui- 
niou.  Cardinal  Antonelli  said,  "It  were  better  the 
children  should  grow  up  in  ignorance  than  be  educated 
in  such  a  system  of  schools  as  prevails  in  New  Eng- 
land." Pope  Pius  IX.,  in  an  encyclical  letter  issued 
December  8,   1864,  insisted  that  the  education  of  the 


432  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

young  should  be  under  the  direction  and  conduct  of  the 
Romish  Church,  exempt  from  the  control  of  the  state 
and  independent  of  the  opinion  of  the  age,  with  power 
to  exercise  discipline,  determine  the  course  of  study  and 
select  teachers  in  all  public  schools.  The  result  would 
be  instruction  in  Romanism,  and  ignorance  respecting 
the  general  subjects  taught  under  the  existing  system. 

The  illiteracy  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  is  admit- 
ted by  the  highest  authorities  in  the  Church.  Where 
schools  have  existed  they  have  given  almost  exclusive 
attention  to  the  catechism  and  religious  ceremonies  of  the 
Church,  and  imparted  only  a  superficial  knowledge  of  the 
rudiments  of  education.  In  Italy  seventy-three  per  cent, 
of  the  people  can  neither  read  nor  write ;  in  Spain,  sev- 
enty-five per  cent. ;  in  Mexico,  ninety -three  per  cent. ; 
and  in  Portugal  the  percentage  is  larger. 

When  New  Granada  adopted  a  constitution  making 
provision  for  a  system  of  popular  education,  Pope 
Pius  IX.  declared  this  action  null  and  void,  condem- 
ning the  principle  on  which  it  was  based.  In  Sardinia 
the  celebrated  Sicardi  laws  protected  "the  right  of  all 
classes  to  the  benefit  of  the  schools  and  universities, 
without  regard  to  sect  or  party,"  and  the  pontiff  pro- 
nounced anathemas  upon  the  government  and  people 
who  had  the  temerity  to  enact  and  uphold  a  law  sub- 
versive of  the  interests  of  the  Church. 

Ignorance  and  poverty  are  associated.  Mendicancy 
prevails  in  all  Roman  Catholic  countries.  It  is  com- 
paratively unknown  in  Protestant  lauds,  and  in  the 
latter  extreme  poverty  is  largely  confined  to  adherents 
of  the  papal  Church.  The  line  is  unmistakably  clear 
which  in  this  regard  separates  European  countries  whic^i 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESKNT  STATUS.  48.S 

are  Roman  Catholic  from  those  which  are  Protestant. 
Compare  Italy  with  Switzerland,  Spain  with  ITolhm<l, 
France  with  England,  and  Southern  Ireland  with  North- 
ern Ireland,  and  the  contrast  is  great.  The  rehitions  of 
cause  and  effect  are  apparent. 

The  Romish  Church  of  the  present  maintains  its  early 
animus,  and  holds  with  an  unyielding  tenacity  every 
principle  that  has  supported  her  govermnent  and  pre- 
cluded religious  freedom.  Ultramontanism  insists  upon 
the  supremacy  of  the  pope  with  all  the  energy  of  the 
Dark  Ages.  The  errors  incorporated  into  the  creeds 
of  Romanism  in  the  times  of  Gregory  VII.  and  Pius 
IV.  continue  until  the  present,  and  the  people  are  re- 
quired to  believe  them. 

Romanism  retains  its  original  position  with  regard 
to  the  right  of  private  judgment.  Protestantism  holds 
that  the  word  of  God  is  the  rule  of  faith.  It  adduces 
the  evidence  of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
submits  this  evidence  to  the  scrutiny  of  private  judg- 
ment. The  Bible  being  accepted  as  the  infallible  word 
of  God,  Protestantism,  comparing  scripture  with  script- 
ure, pursuing  its  investigations  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  formulates  its  doctrinal  beliefs  and 
ethical  conclusions  in  an  intelligent,  logical  system ; 
then  submits  this  result  also  to  the  examination  of 
private  judgment. 

The  first  premise  having  been  admitted — namely, 
that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God— Protestantism 
insists  that  all  its  doctrinal  statements  shall  be  brouglit 
to  the  test  of  the  Scriptures,  and  maintains  that  it  is  the 
office  of  private  judgment  to  inquire  whether  the  form- 
ulated creed  is  in  harmony  with  the  divine  word.     If  it 


434  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

is  in  accord  with  the  Scriptures,  it  is  to  be  believed ;  if 
it  is  uot,  it  is  to  be  rejected. 

Romanism  forbids  this  exercise  of  judgment.  What- 
ever the  Church  teaches  is  to  be  implicitly  believed^ 
though  it  be  contrary  to  reason  and  the  evidence  of  any 
one  or  all  of  the  senses.  Transubstantiation  is  main- 
tained on  this  basis:  on  any  other  it  would  fall.  A 
candidate  for  admission  to  holy  orders  is  required  to 
submit  his  judgment  to  the  Church.  The  recusant  is 
rejected.  Instances  might  be  cited  of  persons  who  were 
refused  admission  to  the  Romish  priesthood  because  they 
would  not  accept  statements  which  were  contradicted  by 
their  natural  senses,  such  as  that  red  was  blue,  that  three 
was  two  and  a  piece  of  marble  was  matured  fruit.  The 
test  was  employed  to  determine  the  question  of  subjec- 
tion to  the  authority  of  the  Church. 

The  Vatican  hurls  anathemas  against  all  who  dare  to 
think  and  decide  for  themselv^es.  It  yokes  the  human 
judgment  to  the  papal  car,  and  converts  man  into  a 
mere  machine  to  be  manipulated  by  that  hierarchy 
which  has  vaulted  into  the  throne  of  supreme  intelli- 
gence. This  claim  of  the  Romish  Church  to  supremacy 
over  the  intellectual  powers  of  men  as  related  to  relig- 
ious beliefs,  suspending  eternal  salvation  on  subjection 
to  her  dogmatism,  is  one  of  the  most  blasphemous  and 
dreadful  assumptions  of  power  ever  made  by  fallen 
humanity.  It  never  has  been  the  office  of  the  Church 
to  create  truth;  truth  is  the  birth-chamber  of  the 
Church.  The  true  Church  teaches  and  conserves  the 
truth.  Her  attitude  toward  the  word  of  God  is  ever 
that  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  relations  to  the  other  per- 
sons of  the  Trinity  and  to  ourselves  in  the  economy  of 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  4:]5 

redemption,  of  whom  Christ  said,  '^  Whatsoever  he  shall 
hear,  that  shall  he  also  speak."  Melanchthon  well  said, 
"  Let  us  hear  the  Church  teaching  and  admonishing,  but 
let  us  not  regulate  our  faith  by  the  authority  of  the 
Church.  The  Church  has  no  right  to  make  articles  of 
faith;  she  can  only  teach  and  admonish.'^  The  papacy 
has  decided  otherwise,  and  has  never  surrendered  its 
position. 

The  Church  of  Rome  resists  all  religious  toleration  in 
this  age  as  it  resisted  it  in  the  time  of  Luther.  One  of 
the  leading  organs  of  Romanism  makes  the  statement 
that  "the  Catholic  who  says  the  Church  is  not  intoler- 
ant belies  the  sacred  spouse  of  Christ.  The  Christian 
who  proposes  to  be  tolerant  himself  is  dishonest  or  ill- 
informed,  or  both."  A  Synojms  of  Moral  Theology  pre- 
pared for  Romish  seminaries  and  students  of  theology 
repeats  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  judgment  of  the 
sixteenth,  that  "heretics  are  rightly  punished  with 
death,"  and  reaches  the  conclusion  by  the  old  process 
of  reasoning — viz.  that  if  forgers  of  money  are  pun- 
ishable, so  are  they  who  forge  the  faith,  and  only  death 
is  an  adequate  infliction  for  the  latter. 

The  bishop  of  Minorca  in  1876  issued  a  circular 
which  he  required  all  the  clergy  in  his  diocese  to  read 
from  their  pulpits  on  three  consecutive  Sundays,  and 
commanded  them  to  enforce  its  injunctions.  In  this  re- 
markable missive  he  said :  "  We  renew  and  reiterate 
our  sentence  of  the  highest  order  of  excommunication 
against  heretics  of  every  sort,  kind  and  description, 
against  their  pupils  or  adopted  children,  against  their 
fathers,  mothers,  preceptors  and  all  who  sit  at  meat 
with   them.     We   fully  excomnumicate   all   and   every 


436  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

person  or  persons  who  dare  to  let  a  liouse  to  a  heretic 
or  Protestant  for  school  or  services,  and  every  one  who 
gives  money  or  makes  a  loan  or  leaves  a  legacy  to  such 
persons;  we  excommunicate  every  one  who  lives  on 
terms  of  friendship  with  such  heretics,  and  every  one 
who  dares  to  say  or  write  one  word  in  their  defence." 
This  circular,  written  and  published  in  the  last  quar- 
ter of  the  nineteenth  century,  almost  within  sight  of  St. 
Peter's  and  the  Vatican,  at  least  tacitly  approved  by  the 
pope,  finds  its  echo  in  expressions  of  like  intolerance  in 
the  New  World,  as  when  the  Shepherd  of  the  Valley 
said :  "  If  the  Catholics  ever  gain  the  ascendency  here, 
as  they  certainly  will,  religious  freedom  is  at  an  end." 
And  the  Western  Watchman  in  1888  tells  us  what  the 
papacy  would  do  with  Protestantism  if  it  had  the 
power :  "•  We  would  impale  it  and  hang  it  up  for  crows' 
nests.  We  would  tear  it  with  pinchers  and  fire  it  with 
hot  irons.  We  would  fill  it  with  molten  lead  and  sink 
it  in  hell-fire  a  hundred  fathoms  deep."  Such  intem- 
perate expressions  may  be  disapproved  by  many  Roman- 
ists, yet  they  represent  the  prevailing  spirit  and  intent 
of  E-oman  Catholicism,  and  one  of  the  most  conserva- 
tive journals  in  America  has  truthfully  said :  "  Popery 
has  never  done  aught  but  repeat  itself  in  the  world.  It 
hobnobs  with  atheism  and  infidelity,  and  repeats  and 
cheers  their  blasphemies  because  they  are  leveled  at 
Protestantism." 

Pope  Le«)  XIII.  in  an  encyclical  letter  published  in 
1885  exhorted  "all  Catholics  who  would  devote  careful 
attention  to  public  manners  to  take  a  part  in  all  muni- 
cipal affairs  and  elections,  and  to  further  the  principles 
of  the  Church  in  all  public  services,  meetings  and  gath- 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  4;i7 

erings.  All  Catholics  must  make  themselves  felt  as 
active  elements  in  daily  political  life  in  the  countries 
where  they  live.  They  must  penetrate  wlierevcr  pos- 
sible into  the  administration  of  civil  affairs,  must  con- 
stantly exert  the  utmost  vigilance  and  energy  to  pievent 
the  usage  of  liberty  from  going  beyond  the  limits  fixed 
by  God's  law.  All  Catholics  should  do  all  in  their 
power  to  cause  the  constitutions  of  States  and  legisla- 
tion to  be  moulded  to  the  principles  of  the  true  Churcli. 
All  Catholic  writers  and  journalists  should  never  lose, 
for  an  instant,  from  view  the  above  principles." 

There  is  herein  a  mixture  of  truth  and  error.  Chris- 
tians ought  to  make  their  influence  felt  at  the  sources  of 
civil  power  and  resist  the  enthronement  of  wickedness. 
But  these  efforts  are  misdirected  and  may  result  in  civil 
and  religious  disaster  when  exerted  in  the  interests  of 
the  Church  which  opposes  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment, freedom  of  conscience  and  liberty  of  worship, 
and  holds  that  the  pope  and  priests  by  divine  right  are 
entitled  to  control  our  temporal  affairs  and  are  them- 
selves amenable  only  to  ecclesiastical  courts.  Roman- 
ism to-day  dominates  the  political  life  of  the  chief  cities 
of  America,  and  holds  the  balance  of  power  in  the  re- 
public of  the  West— the  greatest  religio-political  organi- 
zation in  the  world. 

The  present  numerical  strength  and  influence  of 
Romanism  in  i\\Q  countries  where  it  has  long  existed 
may  properly  claim  our  attention.  With  the  most  com- 
plete organization  known  to  history  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  holds  the  religious  supremacy  in  Italy, 
France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Belgium  and  the  Austrian 
empire^  Lower  Canada,  Mexico,  Central  America,  Bra- 


438  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

zil  and  Africa,  in  the  West  Indies,  Sardinia  and 
Malta;  in  Polynesia,  Ceylon  and  the  Asiatic  Archi- 
pelago ;  maintaining  also  a  strong  position  in  Ger- 
many, S(;andinavia,  Russia,  Switzerland,  the  Nether- 
lands, Greece,  the  Ottoman  empire,  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  and  multiplying  missions  in  India, 
China  and  Japan  ;  entering  nearly  all  the  large  cities 
of  the  world  ;  seeking  political  ascendency  ;  establishing 
churches,  schools  and  hospitals,  monasteries  and  nun- 
neries, in  almost  every  land ;  advertising  its  presence 
and  exaggerating  its  numerical  strength  by  means  of  the 
peculiar  dress  of  its  priesthood  and  Sisters  of  Mercy 
found  on  every  street,  in  all  public  conveyances,  and 
made  prominent  on  great  national  occasions ;  entering 
into  the  privacy  of  domestic  life  through  a  system 
of  espionage  unparalleled  in  the  world,  and  moulding 
the  beliefs  of  children  through  servants  who  touch  life 
at  its  fountain-head — ^the  largest  religious  body  of  the 
age,  equaling  the  Protestants,  Greek,  Armenian  and 
Abyssinian  churches  combined.  Evidently,  in  view 
of  the  extension  of  Komanism,  there  is  a  necessity 
for  continued  watchfulness  and  unremitting  effort,  in 
dependence  upon  God,  in  the  interests  of  evangelical 
religion  and  Bible  morality  as  represented  by  the 
Reformed  Church. 

But  there  is  another  aspect  of  the  subject  which 
deserves  mention.  In  Italy  the  unity  of  the  kingdom 
has  been  established  by  the  destruction  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  pope.  Some  of  the  adherents  of  the 
papacy  cheerfully  accepted  this  result,  largely  influenced 
by  political  considerations,  and  in  some  instances  by  the 
belief  that  the  spirituality  of  the  Church  would  be  ad- 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS  4;jIJ 

vanced  by  this  elimination  of  temporal  prerogatives. 
But  Pope  Pius  IX.  very  naturally  condemned  tlii.< 
action  of  the  state,  and  anathematized  Victor  Emman- 
uel and  all  who  had  contributed  to  the  suppression  of 
his  temporal  dominion.  Leo  XIII.,  whose  attitude  had 
been  accounted  more  liberal,  persisted  in  asserting  the 
right  of  the  vicar  of  Christ  to  control  civil  affairs,  and 
in  an  encyclical  letter  insists  upon  the  exercise  of  tliis 
power  as  essential  to  the  highest  interests  of  the  Church. 
In  all  this  the  hierarchy  is  consistent  with  its  claim  to 
supremacy  in  Church  and  State.  It  may  be  constrained 
to  yield  to  the  opposition  of  men  and  seclude  itself  in 
the  pontifical  palace,  but  its  purpose  is  unchanged,  and 
its  hope  of  the  ultimate  recovery  of  temporal  power  re- 
lieves the  gloom  of  temporary  humiliation. 

On  the  continent  of  Europe,  Romanism  is  the  domi- 
nating religion,  yet  it  is  in  its  decadence  and  as  a  gov- 
ernment its  power  has  materially  declined.  The  "Old- 
Catholic  "  movement,  which  was  adverse  to  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  pope,  has  made  but  little  advance,  but  it  was, 
and  continues  to  be,  a  protest  against  the  dogma  of  papal 
infallibility  and  the  centralization  of  absolute  power  in 
the  Roman  pontiff,  that  has  brought  at  least  a  tremor 
to  the  papal  throne.  In  Italy  the  resistance  to  church  ly 
power  is  more  decided  than  in  any  otlier  European  coun- 
try, prompted  as  it  is  by  the  law  of  self-preservation. 
It  is  maintained  by  growing  numbers  in  all  classes,  and 
reaches  from  the  Apennines  to  the  adjacent  seas.  In 
Austria  the  civil  government  has  declared  its  independ- 
ence of  papal  control,  and  has  given  wide  scope  to 
religious  freedom  and  favors  that  popular  education 
which  has  always  been  inimical  to   papal  institutions. 

29 


440  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

In  France  the  ancient  domination  of  the  pope  is  })ioba- 
bly  at  an  end.  The  people  retain  the  religion  of  Rome, 
but  the  papal  hierarchy  has  lost  its  power.  The  prin- 
ciples of  religious  toleration  are  so  fully  accepted  that 
Protestant  churches  cluster  around  the  Madeleine  and 
Notre  Dame  in  Paris,  and  have  to  some  extent  evangel- 
ized, at  least  outwardly,  the  priesthood  of  that  potential 
city.  Even  in  Spain  there  have  been  some  pulsations 
of  opposition  to  Rome.  During  the  provisional  regency 
of  Espartero  the  pope's  authority  was  treated  with  con- 
tempt. At  a  later  period  Catalonia  especially  endeav- 
ored to  cast  oflP  the  Roman  yoke,  and  a  long-established 
idolatry  was  thrust,  at  least  temporarily,  from  its  throne. 
And  although  Romanism  has  recovered  much  of  its 
former  power  since  the  suppression  of  the  republic, 
still  the  papal  hierarchy  has  lost  its  ancient  prestige, 
and  it  may  not  be  many  years  until  the  voice  of  the 
evangel,  now  muffled,  may  be  distinctly  heard  on  the 
plateaus  and  in  the  valleys  of  that  summer-land,  even 
from  the  Escorial  on  the  slope  of  the  Guaderramas  in 
the  north  to  the  Alhambra  which  overlooks  the  south- 
ern sea.  In  Belgium,  where  Roman  Catholicism  had 
long  held  undisputed  sway,  a  system  of  public  instruc- 
tion has  been  established  which  has  already  relaxed  the 
power  of  the  Church,  and  may  ultimately  terminate 
papal  rule  in  that  prosperous  kingdom.  The  great 
empire  of  Russia  maintains  its  opposition  to  Rome, 
and  Greek  patriarchates  distribute  the  ecclesiastical 
power  which  Romanism  centralizes  in  the  pope,  whilst 
the  Church  is  unified  in  the  semi-sacerdotal  headship 
of  the  czar,  who  crowns  himself  in  the  cathedral  church 
of  the  Kremlin,  and  from  the  palace  by  the  Neva  looks 


ROMANISM:  ITS  PRESENT  STATUS.  \  1  1 

diisdainfully  out  on  papal  Europe  throiigli  the  window 
opened  by  Peter  the  Great. 

In  England  the  papacy  has  made  some  advance  (hir- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century:  Puseyism 
stands  near  the  border-line  between  Protestantism  and 
Romanism,  with  its  face  toward  the  latter,  and  hiu* 
facilitated  the  passage  from  Anglican  rationalism  to 
the  communion  of  Rome.  Other  influences  have 
favored  the  papacy  on  the  British  Isles,  and  yet  the 
numerical  strength  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is 
not  increased. 

The  power  of  the  papacy  evidently  waning  in 
Europe,  Romanism  now  disputes  the  supremacy  of 
Protestantism  in  the  empire  of  the  West  and  persist- 
ently urges  its  way  to  seats  of  power.  Religious 
toleration  favors  this  aggressive  movement.  Tlien, 
too,  the  multitudes  Avho  come  to  us  from  Roman 
Catholic  Europe  bring  their  devotion  to  tlie  Churcli 
with  them,  and  their  influence  fills  a  widening  si)here. 
A  century  ago  the  Roman  Catholics  of  this  country 
numbered  only  twenty-five  thousand,  or  less  than  a 
hundredth  part  of  our  population,  but  they  now  con- 
stitute nearly  the  one-fifth,  and  are  continually  receiving 
large  accessions  from  the  Old  World.  They  are  rapidly 
multiplying  their  church-edifices,  monasteries,  and  paro- 
chial and  theological  schools.  They  establish  tliemselves 
in  the  great  centres  of  population  in  the  East  and  are  the 
religious  pioneers  of  the  A\^est.  They  subsidize  Miiini- 
cipal  power  and  State  legislation,  and  hope  to  make 
these  the  stepping-stones  to  national  supremacy.  The 
annexation  of  the  Canadas  and  of  Mexico,  countries 
dominated  by  Romanism,  might  soon  change  the  whole 


442  ROMANISM  AND  THE  REFORMERS. 

complexion  of  our  civil  and  religious  institutions  and 
imperil  the  nation.  If  Protestantism,  in  the  exercise 
of  a  mistaken  charity,  should  throw  its  moral  support 
on  the  side  of  Romanism,  ignoring  the  history  of  all 
preceding  ages,  and  should  recognize  the  Roman 
Church  as  a  helpful  member  of  the  true  body  of 
Christ,  to  whom  it  is  the  duty  of  all  Christians  to 
bid  a  hearty  God-speed,  it  would  not  be  long  until  the 
principles  of  the  Reformation  would  become  obsolete 
and  the  shadow  would  go  far  back  on  the  dial  of  the 
world's  progress. 

But  our  fears  on  these  grounds  are  relieved  by  other 
well-established  facts.  Admitting  the  growth  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  which  is  less  than  her  statis- 
ticians claim,  yet  the  growth  of  Protestantism  is  pro- 
portionately greater.  Lutheranism  is  taking  long 
strides ;  Presbyterianism  is  urging  her  way  to  the 
front;  Methodism  is  rapidly  growing  in  power;  the 
several  branches  of  the  Baptist  Church  are  greatly 
multiplying  their  numbers  and  strength.  Not  all 
Romanists  who  come  hither  from  Europe  remain  in 
communion  with  their  mother-Church.  Released  from 
the  superstitions  that  had  environed  them  in  Roman 
Catholic  countries,  and  brought  in  contact  with  our 
largely  pre-dominating  Protestantism,  many  of  them 
renounce  their  corrupt  religion  and  identify  themselves 
with  Protestant  churches. 

Ireland  laments  this  defection  from  the  faith.  The 
Roman  Catholic  bishop  of  Kildare  and  Leighton  says 
that  of  every  ten  Roman  Catholics  who  leave  their 
native  land,  seven  are  lost.  They  are  lost  to  the  Rom- 
ish Church,  some  of  them  to  find  a  purer  religion,  some 


ROMANISM:   ITS  PRESENT  STATUS  443 

to  substitute  infidelity  for  beliefs  that  never  gave  llieni 
spiritual  rest. 

It  has  been  stated  by  high  papal  authority,  the  iv- 
raark  covering  the  period  the  hierarchy  has  existed  in 
the  United  States,  that  the  Romish  Church  has  lost  in 
numbers  far  more  than  it  has  gained;  and  this  is  said  in 
full  view  of  the  fact  that  Romanism  has  achieved  decid- 
ed results  among  the  freedmen  of  the  South  and  has 
welcomed  perverts  from  high  social  circles  in  all  our 
chief  cities. 

In  the  great  monarchy  of  Brazil,  Protestantism  is 
advancing  and  Romanism  is  losing  its  power.  There 
are  pencilings  of  light  along  the  religious  horizon  which 
betoken  a  better  day.  The  steamers  which  ply  on  the 
Amazon  carry  the  germs  of  gospel  truth  into  the  far 
interior;  the  secular  press  publishes  the  evangel  along 
the  western  coast;  commerce  with  Protestant  nations 
aids  the  advance  of  pure  religion. 

In  Mexico,  Protestant  missions  are  greatly  relaxing 
the  grasp  of  superstition.  The  gospel  is  preached  in 
the  old  capital  of  the  Aztecs,  and  Reformed  churches 
are  planted  on  paths  once  irrigated  with  human  blood. 
The  lights  kindled  in  the  darkness  do  not  simply  make 
the  gloom  more  apparent,  but  gradually  extend  the  in- 
fluence of  the  truth  and  reveal  the  way  to  God. 

Yet  we  recognize  in  the  Church  of  Rome  the  possi- 
bilities of  an  extended  longevity.  Confucianism  and 
Buddhism  are  old,  and  Mohammedanism  is  becoming 
hoary  with  age.  Romanism  possesses  a  like  vitality. 
Through  change,  decay  and  dissolution  it  holds  on  its 
way.  The  Bourbons  have  lost  their  thrones,  the  Neth- 
erlands and  France  and  Spain  have  witnessed   revolu- 


444  ROMANISM  AND   THE  REFORMERS. 

tions  that  destroyed  palaces,  overturned  dynasties  and 
ploughed  empires  as  with  earthquake.  But  the  pope, 
though  robbed  of  his  temporal  crown,  still  reigns  tlie 
mightiest  potenate  known  to  these  latter  ages,  and  old 
superstitions,  lingering  in  their  seats,  constrain  multi- 
tudes of  great  and  small  to  do  reverence  to  the  Holy 
Father,  the  vicar  of  Christ,  the  supreme  head  of  the 
visible  Church,  whose  blessing  they  crave,  whose  an- 
athema they  dread.  The  Vatican  looks  over  on  the 
Palatine  Hill  covered  with  the  ruins  of  the  Augustan 
age,  claiming  the  centuries  for  its  own  and  professing 
to  descry  its  world-wide  triumph  from  afar.  Popery 
consecrates  the  statue  of  a  pagan  divinity,  sets  it  in  the 
aisle  of  St.  Peter's  church  as  an  object  of  worship,  and 
thinks  to  symbolize  in  that  enduring  bronze  the  per- 
petuity of  its  dominion. 

But  the  wrinkles  of  decay  are  on  its  brow  and  the 
tremor  of  age  is  in  its  steps.  And  even  if  it  should  live, 
shuffling  its  way  down  tlie  centuries,  until  the  loadstars 
of  eternity  shall  rise  above  the  hills,  yet  its  overthrow, 
final  and  complete,  is  as  certain  as  the  word  of  Him 
who  sits  on  the  circle  of  the  earth  and  inhabits  eternity 
— a  pledge  of  the  destruction  of  this  great  Babylon  in 
the  brightness  of  our  Lord's  appearing. 


INDEX. 


Esthetics  of  religion,  their  influ- 
ence, 387. 

Aleandor  humiliated  at  Worms,  184. 

Antonelli,  his  character,  429 ;  opposes 
popular  education,  431. 

Aristotle,  his  philosophy,  147. 

Articles,  the  Six,  repealed,  332. 

Augsburg  Diet,  205  ;  Confession  read 
at,  208  ;  Reformation  gains  ground 
at,  209  ;  the  Confession  modified  by 
Melanchthon,  208. 

Austria  refuses  papal  control,  439. 

Beaton,  Archbishop,  assassinated, 
373. 

Belgium  favors  popular  education, 
440. 

Bergenhagen  preaches  at  Luther's 
funeral,  211. 

Berquin  executed,  265. 

Bible,  the  completeness  of,  denied  by 
Rome,  19  ;  withheld  from  laity, 
19;  exceptional  use  of,  19;  Wyc- 
lif 's  translation,  51  ;  Luther's, 
194;  published,  200;  translation 
secured  by  Cranmer,  321 ;  Maza- 
rine issued,  74. 

Bilney,  Thomas,  conversion  of,  312. 

Boleyn,  Anne,  married  to  Henry 
Vill.,  318;  her  character,  326; 
her  fate,  327. 

Bothwell  murders  Darnley,  400; 
marries    Queen    Mary,    400. 

Bradford,  John,  executed,  344. 

Buddhism  compared  with  Roman- 
ism, 428. 

Calvin,  John,  born  at  Noyon,  258; 
parentage,  258 ;  in  college  at 
Paris,  258;  Montaigu  College, 
259  ;  a  thoughtful  student,  260  ; 
conversations  with  Olivetan,  260  ; 
witnesses  execution  of  heretical 
priest,  262 ;  dismisses  all  thought 


of  priesthood,  262 ;  goes  to  Or- 
leans as  student  of,  law,  262;  in- 
fluenced by  Piere  I'Etoile,  263  ;  by 
Wolmar,  263  ;  scholarship  at  twen- 
ty-two, 263 ;  his  father's  death, 
264;  questions  of  duty,  266; 
preaches,  266 ;  gives  prominence 
to  justice  and  sovereignty  of  God, 
267  ;  leaves  Paris,  269  ;  arrives  at 
Angouleme,  269  ;  habits  of  study, 
269  ;  preaches  the  gospel.  270  ;  goes 
to  Nerac,  270 ;  meets  Le  F^vre, 
270;  goes  with  Du  Fillet  to  Poic- 
tiers,  271 ;  denounces  transub- 
stantiation,  271,  289;  views  of 
Lord's  Supper,  272 ;  travels  in 
France,  preaching,  273;  meets 
Servetus  at  Paris,  273 ;  goes  to 
Strassburg,  274  :  personal  appear- 
ance, 280;  family  symbol,  280; 
meets  Erasmus,  280 ;  arrives  at 
Basle,  281 ;  prepares  the  Inati- 
tiite-s,  281 ;  exalts  oflice  of  Holy 
Spirit,  284;  insists  on  personal 
holiness,  285:  his  book  con- 
demned by  French  Parliament, 
286  ;  goes  "to  Aosta,  286  ;  thence 
to  Geneva,  286 ;  advocates  fre- 
quent observance  of  Lord's  Sup- 
per, 289;  condemns  festivals  and 
holidays,  290;  approves  modified 
subordination  of  Church  to  StaJe, 
290 ;  driven  by  persecution  to 
Strassburg,  291  ;  lectures  on  the- 
ology and  founds  church  at  Strass- 
burg, 291 ;  revises  InsiituteM,  291  : 
his  marriage,  292;  returns  to  Ge- 
neva, 293  ;  welcomes  John  Knox 
to  Geneva,  294  ;  his  varieil  labors, 
295;  habits  of  study,  295;  nat- 
ural temperament,  296;  relations 
to  Servetus,  296:  asks  c<tmmuta- 
tion  of  Servetiis's  sentence.  299; 
urges  Christian  union,  301;  last 
447 


us 


INDEX. 


visit  to  council-house,  302  ;  writes 
Farel,  302;  is  visited  by  Farel, 
303;  his  sufferings  and  death,  303  ; 
burial,  304;  character  as  described 
by  friends  and  enemies,  304;  how 
estimated  by  Pius  IV.,  305. 

Calvinism,  leading  principles  of,  283. 

Calixtines,  the,  134. 

Carlstadt  at  Leipsic,  172 ;  impru- 
dent zeal,  195. 

Catharine  de  Medici  as  connected 
with  the  massacre  on  St.  Barthol- 
omew's Day,  28. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  his  estimate  of 
Knox,  408,  409. 

Catalonia  resists  Romish  rule,  440. 

Cessarini,  Cardinal,  as  a  military 
general,  136 ;  enters  Bohemia, 
136;   repulsed,  136. 

Charles  V.  summons  Luther  to 
Worms,  178;  crowned  by  Pope 
Clement,  206;  at  Diet  of  Augs- 
burg, 207. 

Christianity,  early,  11 :  its  successes, 
11  ;  its  polity  favorable  to  growth, 
11 ;  errors  introduced  into,  12;  per- 
secutions, 12  ;  influenced  by  Con- 
stantine's  professed  conversion, 
13;  power  of  priesthood  under 
Constantine,  14;  sensuous  wor- 
ship, 14;  growth  of  mona*ticism, 
15  ;  episcopacy  advocated  by  Cyp- 
rian, 15:  Peter's  pontificate,  17; 
temporal  power  corrupts,  17  ;  con- 
dition of,  at  birth  of  Wyclif,  32. 

Church  of  Scotland,  first  meeting  of 
General  Assembly  of,  389  ;  holds 
to  parity  of  ministry,  390 ;  makes 
second  Sabbath  service  expository, 
390:  uses  Bible  in  schools,  391. 

Clementine  Homilies  assert  the  pon- 
tificate of  Peter,  17. 

Constance,  Jerome  of  Prague  exe- 
cuted at,  114;  city  of,  described, 
121;  council  at,  122;  Huss  exe- 
cuted at,  133. 

Constantine,  professed  conversion. 
13. 

Council  at  Constance,  122;  impres- 
sive opening  of,  124  :  Pope  John's 
sermon  at,  125 ;  deposed  Pope 
John,  129 ;  summoned  Huss, 
131  ;  condemned  and  executed 
Huss,  132;  executed  Jerome  of 
Prague,    114. 

Council  at  Pisa,  object,   112;    pon- 


tificate of  Benedict  and  Gregory 
considered,  112;  Huss  declared  a 
heresiarch,  113;  Prague  placed 
under   interdict,    113. 

Common  Prayer-Book  prepared  by 
Cranmer  and  adopted,  332. 

Common  schools  opposed  by  Rome, 
431. 

Coverdale,  Miles,  assists  Tyndale  to 
translate  Bible,  321. 

Crime  at  Rome,  430  ;  in  papal  coun- 
tries, 430. 

Cranmer,  Thomas,  his  birth,  314;  at 
Cambridge,  314  ;  made  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  319  :  holds  to  tran- 
substantiation,  320 ;  his  timidity, 
320  ;  D'Aubigne's  estimate  of,  321 ; 
secures  translation  of  Bible,  321 ; 
opposes  Six  Articles  of  Henry 
VIII.,  325  ;  imprisoned  by  Mary, 

346  ;  recants,  347  ;  his  penitence, 

347  ;  sentenced  to  death,  347  :  his 
courage  and   renewed  confession, 

348  ;  address  to  people,  347 ;  burned 
at  Oxford,  349  ;  attainments  and 
character,  350,  351 ;  his  death  gave 
new  impetus  to  Reformation,  352  ; 
views  of  episcopacy,  357. 

Darxley  professes  himself  a  pa- 
pist, 399;  murdered,  400. 

Dodwell,  Henry,  on  apostolic  suc- 
cession, 419. 

EcK  at  Leipsic  disputation,  174. 

Eek,  John  ab,  at  AA'orms,  181. 

Education,  popular,  Luther's  rela- 
tions to,  203;  opposed  by  Rome, 
431  :  in  New  Grenada,  432 ;  in 
Sardinia,  432;  advance  in  Aus- 
tria, 439  ;    in  Belgium,  440. 

Edward  VI.  succeeds  Henrv  VIII., 
331 ;  his  regard  for  the  Bible.  331  ; 
dies,  333;  succeeded  by  Bloody 
Mary,  333. 

Einsidlen,  its  abbey  said  to  have 
been  consecrated  by  angels,  224; 
Zwingle  called  to,  224. 

Eisenach,  Luther's  home,  149  ;  Cotta 
family,  150. 

Eisleben,  place  of  Luther's  birth. 
149;  of  his  death,  211. 

Elizabeth  ascends  English  throne, 
356;  peace  restored,  356;  Act  of 
Uniformity  in  her  reign,  356 ; 
seeks  to  conciliate  Romanists,  357; 


INDEX. 


44tJ 


favors  imposing  ceremonies,  358  ; 
gives  character  to  English  Refor- 
mation, 358. 

English  Reformation,  features  of, 
309  ',  occupied  with  real  presence, 
325  ',  prefers  episcopacy,  326. 

Episcopacy  advocated  by  Cyprian, 
1  5  ;  Cranmer's  views  of  exclusive, 
326,  357. 

Erasmus  opposes  indulgences,  161: 
meets  Calvin,  280;  in  Basle,  310; 
his  New  Testament,  310 ;  his  influ- 
ence on  Thomas  Bilney,  311. 

Farel,  William,  meets  Calvin,  287 ; 
visits  Calvin's  deathbed,  302. 

Florence,  republic  of,  84;  its  short 
continuance,  85. 

France,  condition  of  Church  before 
Calvin,  257;  papal  power  in,  bro- 
ken, 440, 

Frederick,  elector,  secures  Luther 
from  violence,  186 ;  proflTered  the 
Golden  Rose,  169  ;  death  of,  201. 

Geneva  as  a  centre  of  influence  in 
Calvin's  day,  288  ;  described,  300  ; 
its  cathedral,  301 ;  Calvin's  death 
at,  303. 

Glaris  welcomes  Zwingle  as  her 
priest,  220. 

Golden  Rose,  emblem  of  Christ's 
body,  169 ;  proffered  by  Rome  to 
Elector  Frederick,  169;  detained 
at  Augsburg,  171. 

Gospel,  the,  practically  nullified  by 
Rome,  27. 

Grey,  Lady  Jane,  claims  to  the 
throne  urged,  338  ;  her  learning, 
339;  her  piety,  339;  reluctantly 
accepts  crown,  339 ;  displaced  by 
Mary,  340  ;  executed,  340. 

Hamilton,  proto-martyr  of  Scotch 
Reformation,  368  ;  abbot  of  Feme, 
368;  meets  Luther,  369;  impris- 
oned, 370  ;  burned  at  St.  Andrews, 
370. 

Henry  VIIL,  his  Defence  of  the  Sev- 
en Sacraments  ac/ainst  Martin  Lu- 
ther, 199 ;  for  his  book  receives 
title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  199  ; 
excites  Luther's  indignation,  199  ; 
questions  his  marriage  with  Cath- 
erine of  Arragon,  315;  reasons  for 
divorce,  315;   breaks  with  Rome, 


318;  marries  Anne  Boloyn.  318; 
declared  head  of  Engli.'=h"  Church, 
319;  suppresses  monasteries,  323  ; 
executes  convent  priors,  ."^23  ;  exe- 
cutes Bishop  Foster  ami  Sir  Thom- 
as More,  323;  secures  adoption  of 
Six  Articles,  324 :  nuirries  .Taiio 
Seymour,  328;  then  Anne  of  Cloves, 
328;  divorced  from,  ;;2S;  marries 
Catherine  Howard,  whom  he  be- 
heads, 328  ;  marries  Catherine 
Parr,  329 ;  advances  Protestant- 
ism, 329 ;  dies,  329  ;  his  character, 
329  ;  great  gifts  and  attainments, 
331. 

Hume,  his  estimate  of  Henry  VIII., 
330. 

Huss,  John,  birth,  101  ;  at  school  iu 
Praehatiz,  102;  entered  university 
at  Prague,  103;  received  highest 
academic  honors,  103;  rector  of 
university,  103  ;  preacher  of  Beth- 
lehem church,  104;  exceptional 
power,  104;  accepts  teachings  of 
Wyclif,  105 ;  exposes  pretended 
miracles,  107;  complaints  against 
him,  109;  Pope  Alexander  V.  is- 
sues bull  against  his  erroneous 
teaching,  110;  conflfct  with  papa- 
cy inaugurated.  111;  pronounced 
a  heretic,  115;  opposes  indul- 
gences, 116  ;  three  of  his  followers 
beheaded  in  Prague,  116;  contin- 
ues his  work,  117;  leaves  Prague 
in  sorrow,  122  ;  goes  to  Constance, 
123  ;  Pope  John  pledged  to  protect 
his  person,  124;  arrested,  126; 
grave  .charges  against  him,  126; 
a  Realist,  127  ;  in.-^ists  on  giving 
the  cup  to  the  laity,  12S;  impris- 
oned, 129;  declares  his  loyalty  to 
the  Church,  130;  his  acceptance 
of  transubstantiation,130;  charges 
priests  with  immorality,  131  ;  ex- 
alts the  word  of  God  above  Church 
councils,  131;  Christ  above  the 
pope,  131  ;  summoned  before  the 
council,  131 ;  condemned  by  coun- 
cil, and  executed,  132. 

Ignatius,  silence  respecting  apostol- 
ic succession,  420. 

Illiteracy  in  Romish  countries,  -132. 

Images,  ofiice  of,  in  Romi.<h  Church, 
426;  difi"erent  opinions  concern- 
ing, 426. 


450 


INDEX. 


Indulgences,  papal,  157,  225. 

Inquisition,  the,  originated  by  Greg- 
ory IX.,  28. 

Institutes,  Calvin's,  281 ;  revised,  291. 

Isabella,  queen  of  Castile,  persecutes 
beretics,  28. 

Italy  resists  Church  power,  439. 

Jerome  op  Prague,  113;  relations 
to  Huss,  113;  charged  with  grave 
offences,  114  ;  his  recantation,  114; 
subsequent  heroism  and  martyr- 
dom, 114. 

Judgment,  private,  denied  by  Ro- 
mish Church,  27,  433,  434;  favor- 
ed by  Protestantism,  433,  434. 

Justification  perverted  by  Romish 
Church,  148. 

Knox,  John,  birth  of,  364;  origin  of 
name,  364 ;  parentage,  364 ;  at 
school  in  Haddington,  364 ;  in 
universit}'  at  Glasgow,  364;  reads 
early  Fathers,  366 ;  observes  cor- 
ruptions of  Church,  366  ;  teaches 
at  St.  Andrews.  374  :  assistant  to 
John  Rough,  374 ;  his  preaching, 
374 ;  prisoner  on  French  galleys, 
375;  liberaled.  376;  declines  ben- 
efice in  London,  376 ;  offered  a 
bishopric,  377 ;  repudiates  exclu- 
sive episcopal  ordination,  377 ; 
complains  of  illiteracy  of  clergy, 
377;  the  papacy  restored,  goes  to 
Continent,  378 ;  meets  Calvin  in 
Geneva,  378  ;  labors  at  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main,  378;  returns  to  Scot- 
land, 384:  condemns  riotous  pro- 
ceedings at  Perth,  385  ;  forbidden 
to  preach  at  St.  Andrews,  385  : 
travels  through  Scotland,  preach- 
ing, 388:  first  interview  with  Mary, 
393 ;  second,  397 ;  third,  397 ;  fourth, 
397 ;  charged  with  treason,  398 ; 
stricken  with  paralysis,  402  :  his 
life  sought,  402  ;  removes  from 
Edinburgh  to  St.  Andrews,  403; 
his  preaching  described,  403  ;  con- 
templates death,  401:  returns  to 
Edinburgh,  404  ;  mourns  massacre 
of  Protestants  in  Paris,  404 :  last 
interview  with  his  elders,  405 : 
death,  407,  burial,  408;  Carlyle's 
estimate  of,  409  ;  Froude's,  409. 

Labarum,  the,  origin  of,  13. 


Latimer,  conversion  of,  312  ;  defend- 
er of  truth,  353  ;  at  Lambeth  Pal- 
ace, 353  ;  a  vicar  in  the  North, 
354;  prisoner  in  old  Tower,  354; 
burnt  at  Oxford,  355  ;  triumphant 
death,  355. 

Lawson,  Knox's  successor  at  Edin- 
burgh, 405. 

Leipsic,  disputation  at,  172 ;  Carl- 
stadt  accepts  challenge  of  Eck, 
172;  Luther  appears,  172,  174; 
opposes  Eck's  assumptions  touch- 
ing the  pope,  174;  absolution  and 
indulgences,  175;  Luther  victor- 
ious, 175  ;  separates  himself  from 
Romish  Church,  175;  anathema- 
tized. 176. 

Lord's  Supper,  Zwingle's  views  of, 
246  ;  frequent  observance  of,  urged 
by  Calvin,  289. 

Luther,  Martin,  birth  of.  149 ;  pa- 
rentage, 149;  at  Magdeburg 
school,  149;  at  Eisenach,  149; 
in  Cotta  family,  1 50 ;  made  doc- 
tor of  philosophy  at  twenty-two, 
151 ;  interview  with  John  Stau- 
pitz,  152;  ordained  priest,  152; 
religious  disquietude,  153;  sets 
out  for  Rome,  153:  disappoint- 
ment, 154  :  experience  on  Pilate's 
Staircase,  154;  learns  fullness  of 
the  gospel,  155;  returns  to  Wit- 
tenberg, 155:  made  doctor  of 
Holy  Scriptures,  1 55  ;  resists  phil- 
osophy of  Aristotle,  156;  opposes 
Pelagianism,  157;  condemns  indul- 
gences, 159;  summoned  before 
chapter  of  Augustine  monks  at 
Heidelberg,  162;  damnatory  bull 
of  Leo  X.  against  him,  165;  ties 
to  Rome  dissolving.  165  ;  disputa- 
tion with  Eck  at  Leipsic,  175  ;  vic- 
torious, 175;  separates  himself 
from  Romish  Church,  175;  ana- 
thematized, 177  ;  burns  papal  bull 
at  Elster  Gate,  177;  summoned 
to  Worms,  178:  enters  AVorms, 
180 ;  appears  before  Emperor 
Charles  v.,  180;  imposing  assem- 
blage, 181 ;  citation  presented, 
182;  Luther's  answer,  182;  re- 
fusal to  retract  opinions  ex- 
pressed in  his  books,  183 ;  de- 
parture from  Worms,  1  So ;  letter 
to  the  emperor  from  Freyburg, 
185;  at  Ilirschfeldt,  185;  at  Eise- 


INDEX. 


451 


nach,  186;  captured  and  conveyed 
to  Wartburg  Castle,  186;  in  the 
hands  of  friends,  186;  known  as 
Knight  George,  187  ;  story  of  ink- 
bottle,  194:  translation  of  New 
Testament,  194;  gospel  com- 
ments, 194;  hears  of  Oarlstadt's 
imprudent  zeal,  195;  departs  for 
Wittenberg,  195;  interview  with 
students  at  Jena,  196;  restores 
quiet  in  Wittenberg,  198;  his  in- 
dignation excited  by  Henry's  De- 
fence of  Seven  Sacraments,  199; 
translationof  New  Testament  pub- 
lished, 200,  also  portions  of  Old 
Testament,  200 ;  plants  churches, 
201 ;  arrests  War  of  Peasants, 
201 ;  mourns  de.ath  of  Frederick, 
201;  abandons  life  of  monk,  202; 
marries  Catherine  von  Bora,  a 
nun,  202 ;  resides  in  vacated  Au- 
gustinian  monastery  at  Witten- 
berg, 202;  influence  of  domestic 
life,  203  ;  relations  to  popular  ed- 
ucation, 203 ;  sickness,  203 ;  plague 
in  Wittenberg,  204;  diet  at  Spire 
opposes  Reform,  and  the  Refor tri- 
ers' protest,  204;  at  Coburg,  205; 
communicates  with  Augsburg,  208 ; 
writes  Augsburg  Confession,  mod- 
ified by  Melanchthon,  208;  do- 
mestic afflictions,  209  ;  death  an- 
ticipated, 210  ;  leaves  Wittenberg 
for  Eisleben,  210  ;  dies  at  Eisleben, 
211 ;  buried  in  aisle  of  church  at 
Wittenberg,  212. 

Mair,  John,  influence  of,  on  John 
Knox,  365. 

Mariolatry  of  Romanism,  23. 

Mary  the  Bloody  ascends  English 
throne,  333;  inaugurates  perse- 
cution, 341 ;  burns  John  Rogers, 
343,  and  John  Bradford,  343 ;  re- 
vives Romish  religion,  345  ;  builds 
monasteries,  346;  her  unhappi- 
ness,  346 ;  imprisons  Cranmer, 
346 ;  secures  his  recantation,  347. 

Mary  queen  of  Scots  returns  to  Scot- 
land, 391 ;  a  devout  Romanist,392 ; 
deprecates  influence  of  Knox,  392  ; 
interview  with  Knox,  393-396; 
celebrates  massacre  of  French 
Protestants,  396;  second  inter- 
view with  Knox,  397 ;  third 
interview,  397;   fourth  interview, 


397;  charges  Knox  with  troiison, 
398;  marries  Bothweil,  400;  im- 
prisoned in  Lochlcven  and  esciipcs, 
400  ;  beheaded,  401 ;  compiired 
with    Elizabeth,    401. 

Marignan,  on  battle-field  of,  many 
Swiss  perish,  223. 

Mazarine  Bible  issued,  74. 

Melanchthon  at  Leipsic,  172 ;  esti- 
mate of  Diet  of  Worms,  185;  eu- 
logy on  Luther,  211. 

Mexico,  Romanism  declining  in,  443. 

Miltitz  sent  to  conciliate  Elector 
Frederick,  169;  interview  with 
Luther,  170;  divulges  corruptions 
of  Church,  171. 

Milton,  John,  his  estimate  of  Wy- 
clif,  55. 

Minorca,  bishop  of,  excommunicates 
heretics,  435. 

Monasteries  suppressed  by  Henry 
VIII.,  323. 

Monastic  orders  in  time  of  Knox,  367. 

Moravian  Brethren,  spiritual  chil- 
dren of  John   IIuss,   138. 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  beheaded,  323. 

Murray,  earl  of,  peace  during  his 
regency,  401;  his  death,  402. 

Nuremberg,  Diet  of,  200. 

Old  Catholicism  denies  supremacy 

of  pope,  439. 
Olivetan,  influence  on  Calvin,  260. 
Ordination    to    ministry,    exclusive, 

episcopal,  357,  358. 

Papal  jurisdiction  terminated  in 
Scotland,  389. 

Peter,  his  pontificate,  no  scriptural 
evidence  of,  17  ;  no  early  historic 
evidence  of,  17  ;  not  certain  that 
he  visited  Rome,  17;  his  cliain  in 
Rome,  430. 

Preaching,  Wyclif 's,  contrasted  with 
thatof  contemporaries,  44;  and  Sa- 
vonarola's witli  Mariano's,  71. 

Presbyterianism  establisheil  in  Scot- 
land, 389;  reafhrmed  by  Scutch 
Parliament,  401. 

Priesthood,  the  pagan,  14;  its  au- 
tocracy as  related  to  early  Chris- 
tian Church,  14 ;  corruption  of 
Christian.  429,  430;  immorality 
of  Romish,  restrained  by  Victor 
Emmanuel,  429. 


452 


INDEX. 


Protestantism  established  in  Scot- 
land, 389;  confirmed  by  Parlia- 
ment, 401 ;  recent  growth  of,  442, 
443. 

Protestants,  origin  of  name,  204; 
their  protest,  205  ;  English,  per- 
secuted, 341-345. 

Purgatory,  its  office,  25 ;  cruelty  of, 
26 ;  different  views  concerning, 
425. 

Puritans,  the,  359. 

Queen  Mary  of  Scots  and  Bloody 
Mary.     See  Mary. 

Reformation,  the  English,  features 
of,  309 ;  occupied  middle  ground, 
357;  largely  occupied  with  doc- 
trine of  real  presence,  325 ;  pre- 
fers episcopal  ordination,  326;  not 
exclusive,  357. 

Renaissance,  the,  in  time  of  Savon- 
arola, 73;  of  Knox,  366. 

Reuchlin,  John,  supports  Luther, 
160. 

Ridley,  bishop  of  London,  as  a 
preacher,    332. 

Rizzio,  David,  in  Scotland,  400;  bis 
murder,  400. 

Rogers,  John,  burned  at  Smithfield, 
342  ;  his  useful  life,  342. 

Romanism,  its  rise,  15;  Paul  saw  its 
incipient  workings,  17;  a  govern- 
ment under  Leo  the  Great,  16;  ad- 
mixture of  truth  and  error,  18; 
better  than  infidelity,  19;  denies 
completeness  of  the  Sacred  Script- 
ures, 19;  claims  infallibility,  20; 
perverts  office  of  faith,  21;  doc- 
trine of  mass,  22  ;  Mariolatry,  23  ; 
worship  of  saints,  25  ;  images,  25  ; 
indulgences,  145  ;  purgatory,  25  ; 
denies  private  judgment,  27,  144; 
resists  civil  liberty,  27 ;  its  pres- 
ent status,  415-444;  less  corrupt 
than  once,  416;  elements  of  good 
in,  416;  inconsistencies,  417; 
boasts  of  its  unity,  418 ;  claim 
of  apostolic  succession  fallacious, 
419 ;  its  priesthood  unscriptural, 
421 ;  claim  to  doctrinal  unity 
groundless,  424 ;  different  views 
concerning  transubstantiation, 
425 ;  purgatory,  425 ;  extreme 
unction,  426 ;  images,  426 :  cel- 
ibacy   of   clergy,   426;    a   rebap- 


tized  paganism,  428 ;  compared 
with  Buddhism,  428;  superstitions, 
430 ;  numerical  strength,  437 ; 
countries  it  controls,  437,  438 ; 
declining  in  Europe,  438-441, 
443 ;  seeks  control  in  the  United 
States,  441  ;  advances  in  Eng- 
land, 441 ;  possible  longevity  of, 
443 ;  final  overthrow  of,  444. 

Rome,  crime  in,  430. 

Russia  resists  papal  supremacy, 
440. 

Sabbath,  the,  a  civil  institution 
under    Constantine,    14. 

Saints,  worship  of,  in  Romish 
Church,   25. 

Savonarola,  birth,  64;  lineage  hon- 
orable, 64 ;  early  thoughtfulness, 
65  ;  a  disappointed  hope,  65  ;  de- 
signed for  medical  profession,  66  ; 
love  to  parents,  66  :  sorrowful  de- 
parture from  home,  66 ;  enters 
Dominican  monastery  in  Bologna, 
67 ;  surprised  by  the  immorality 
of  the  monks,  67 :  spends  seven 
years  in  convent,  68;  studies  Pla- 
to and  Aristotle,  68 ;  prefers  Sacred 
Scriptures,  68 ;  St.  Paul  his  teach- 
er rather  than  Aquinas,  68  ;  grow- 
ing reverence  for  word  of  God,  69  ; 
hears  of  the  Pazzi  conspiracy,  69  ; 
leaves  convent,  70  ;  returns  to  Fer- 
rara,  70 ;  preaches  without  suc- 
cess, 71;  teaches  in  monastery  at 
Florence,  71 ;  Lenten  preacher  in 
church  of  San  Lorenzo,  71 ;  fail- 
ure, 71 ;  contrasted  with  Era  Ma- 
riano, preacher  of  San  Spirito,  71 ; 
established  in  Dominican  chapter 
of  Reggio,  72 ;  development  of 
pulpit  power,  72  ;  Mirandola's  es- 
timate of  the  preacher,  73 ;  in- 
vited by  Lorenzo  de  Medici  to  re- 
turn to  Florence,  73  ;  the  Renais- 
sance at  this  period,  73 ;  moral 
corruption  prevalent.  75  ;  resumes 
his  work  in  San  Marco  monas- 
tery, 76 ;  preaches  in  convent 
chapel,  76;  in  cathedral,  77;  elo- 
quence, 77;  audacity,  directness 
and  solemnity  of  his  speech,  77, 
cathedral  crowded,  78;  Lorenzo's 
confidence  in,  78;  visits  Lorenzo's 
deathbed,  79;  continues  his  min- 
istry in  Santa   Maria  del   Fiore, 


INDEX. 


-^53 


80;  a  supposed  vision,  80;  inter- 
preted by  the  approach  to  Flor- 
ence of  Charles  VIII.,  82 ;  inter- 
feres for  protection  of  the  de- 
throned Piero  de  Medici,  82  ;  sug- 
gests a  form  of  government  and 
a  code  of  laws  adopted  by  coun- 
cil, 83;  the  republic  short-lived, 
85 ;  his  efforts  for  moral  reform, 
85 ;  elevates  monastic  life,  86 ; 
urges  repentance,  87 ;  his  elo- 
quence resistless,  87  ;  secures  gen- 
eral reformation  of  life,  87 ;  op- 
posed by  friends  of  the  Medici, 
89  ;  sentiment  turns  against  him, 
89 ;  appeals  to  leading  powers  of 
Europe  in  vain,  90 :  sees  reform 
in  morals  come  to  an  end,  91 ;  his 
sorrow  and  tested  faith,  91  ;  mock 
trial,  91 ;  death-sentence,  92  ;  ex- 
ecution, 93 ;  elements  of  Refor- 
mation in  his  teachings,  95. 

Science  encouraged  by  the  Reforma- 
tion, 272. 

Scotch,  characteristics  of  the,  in  time 
of  John  Knox,  368. 

Servetus  and  Calvin,  296-299. 

Seymour,  Edward,  a  Protestant, 
332. 

Sigismund  entering  Constance,  122  ; 
successor  to  Wenzel,  134;  attempts 
execution  of  hei-etics  in  Bohemia, 
135 ;  defeated  in  battle  by  Huss- 
ites, 136 ;  intrigues,  137;  accepted 
as  emperor  of  Bohemia,  137. 

Spain,  Romanism  declining  in,  440. 

State,  relations  of  Church  to,  Calvin's 
theory  of,  290. 

Staupitz,  John,  instructs  Luther,  162, 

Superstitions,  Romish,  430. 

Taborites,  the,  134. 

Temporal  power  of  pope,  how  re- 
garded in  Italy,  438. 

Tetzel,  John,  sale  of  indulgences,  158. 

Toleration,  religious,  resisted  by 
Rome,  434-436. 

Tradition,  office  of,  in  Romish 
Church,  19. 

Transubstantiation  disproved  by 
Calvin,  289;  rejected  by  English 
Church,  333  ;  different  views  con- 
cerning, 425. 

Tribute,  feudatory,  demanded  of 
England  by  Pope  Urban  V.,  36. 

Trustees,    boards    of,    unknown    in 


early  history  of  Scotch  Prcsby- 
terianisra,  390. 
Tyndale,  William,  his  translution  of 
Bible,  321 :  assisted  by  Miles  Cov- 
erdale,  321;  his  Testament  pro- 
hibited, 322. 

Ur.TRAMONTANisM  Supports  suprema- 
cy of  pope,  433. 

Unction,  extreme,  different  viewa 
concerning,  426. 

Uri,  traffic  in  indulgences  at,  226. 

Vienna,  Zwingle  a  student  at,  220. 

Waldenses,  devotion  to  truth,  423, 
424. 

Waldstettes  overcome  Zurichers,  251. 

Wishart,  Gleorge,  371 ;  burnt  at  St. 
Andrews,  372. 

Wittenberg,  papal  bull  burned  at 
Elster  Gate,  177;  Luther  resides 
in  monastery  of,  202,  and  buried 
in  church  of,  212. 

Wolmar,  influence  of,  on  Calvin,  262. 

Wolsey,  relations  to  Henry  VIII., 
316  ;  urges  divorce,  316;  his  grief, 
319. 

Worms,  Luther  summoned  to,  178  ; 
approaching,  179;  appears  before 
Emperor  Charles  V.,  180:  grand 
pageant,  181 ;  Luther's  attitude, 
183:  power  of  pope  broken,  184; 
Melanchthon's  estimate  of  diet  at, 
185  ;  Luther's  departure  from,  185. 

Wyclif,  birth  of,  34:  family  of,  34; 
instructed  by  a  priest,  35  ;  enters 
Baliol  College,  35 :  master  in  Ba- 
liol,  35 ;  reads  Augustine  and 
Thomas  Aquinas,  35 ;  his  fame  as 
a  scholar,  35 ;  member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 36  :  sent  to  Bruges,  37 :  resists 
papal  encroachments,  38 ;  sum- 
moned before  the  clerical  conven- 
tion in  London,  38 :  his  moral  hero- 
ism, 39  ;  grows  conspicuous  as  a 
Reformer,  40:  rejects  essential 
doctrines  of  Romish  Church.  41  ; 
views  of  Lord's  Supi)er,  A?<:  lect- 
ures on  divinity  at  Oxford.  43  ; 
unacquainted  with  original  lan- 
guages of  Bible.  43  :  familiar  with 
Vulgate,  44;  a  biblical  preacher, 
44;  ministry  at  Lutterworth.  44; 
sought  to  reform  the  pulpit,  45  ; 
apparent  severity,  47 ;  great  ten- 


454 


INDEX. 


derness,  47  ;  trains  evangelists,  49 ; 
translates  the  Bible  into  English 
language,  50 ;  devotes  twenty  years 
to  the  work,  50  ,•  revises  it,  51 ; 
completed  by  John  Purvey,  51; 
his  translation  condemned  by  lead- 
ing ecclesiastics  in  convention,  52 ; 
reading  of,  declared  heresy  and 
.  punishable,  52;  it  inaugurates  a 
new  era  in  England,  53;  influence 
of,  on  English  literature,  54 ;  his 
death  in  1384,  and  burial  at  Lut- 
terworth, 55 ;  bones  exhumed  in 
1415  and-burned,  55  ;  ashes  thrown 
into  the  Swift,  65 ;  John  Milton's 
estimate  of,  55 ;  his  far-reaching 
influence,  66 ;  his  spirituality,  58. 

ZiSKA,  the  one-eyed  general,  135 ; 
one  of  the  greatest  of  warriors, 
135 ;  stricken  down  by  plague, 
136. 

Zurich  described,  227  ;  Zwingle's  ap- 
pearance at,  229  ;  Helvetic  Diet  at, 
239. 

Zwingle,  Ulrich,  birth  of,  219 :  pa- 
rents of,  219  ;  in  school  at  Wesen, 
219;  at  Basle,  219;  at  Vienna, 
220  ;  inducted  into  priesthood  at 
Constance,  220  ;  his  charge  in 
Glaris,  221  ;  a  devout  papist,  221 ; 
in  war  with  France,  221;  studies 
Scriptures  and  early  Fathers,  221 ; 


reads  Homer  and  Pindar,  222 
devotion  to  Rome  abates,  222 
meets  Erasmus  at  Basle,  222 
again  in  war  with  France,  223 
returns  to  Glaris,  223 ;  removes 
to  Einsidlen,  224 ;  opposes  super- 
stition, 225  ;  resists  indulgences, 
226  ;  called  to  Zurich,  229  ;  makes 
profound  profession,  230  ;  his  char- 
acteristics, 231  ;  he  opposes  traflSc 
in  indulgences,  235 ;  his  sickness, 
236;  reported  death,  237;  his 
marriage,  237;  his  personal 
friends,  238;  is  in  accord  with 
Luther's  teachings,  240 ;  his  sys- 
tem of  faith  evangelical,  241 ;  ap- 
proved by  council  of  Zurich,  242 ; 
presents  theses,  243  ;  reviews  his 
ministry,  245  ;  compared  with  Lu- 
ther, 245  ;  views  of  Lord's  Supper, 
246 ;  sacrament  re-established  in 
Zurich  cathedral,  247  :  meets  Lu- 
ther at  Marburg,  247 ;  dispute 
touching  Lord's  Supper,  247  ;  Ref- 
ormation temporarily  checked, 
248  ;  Rome  seeks  to  win  him  back, 
249 ;  remains  firm,  250 ;  reforms 
worship,  249 ;  troubles  culminate 
in  war,  250:  leaves  pulpit,  250;  as 
captain  of  Zurichers  goes  out  to 
battle,  251  ;  is  slain.  252  ;  his  death 
mourned  in  Zurich,  253 ;  the  gos- 
pel he  preached  lives  on,  254. 


THE  END. 


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